Embedder for embedding a watermark into an information representation, detector for detecting a watermark in an information representation, method and computer program

ABSTRACT

An embedder for embedding a watermark to be embedded into an input information representation comprises an embedding parameter determiner that is implemented to apply a derivation function once or several times to an initial value to obtain an embedding parameter for embedding the watermark into the input information representation. Further, the embedder comprises a watermark adder that is implemented to provide the input information representation with the watermark using the embedding parameter. The embedder is implemented to select how many times the derivation function is to be applied to the initial value.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a U.S. National Phase entry of PCT/EP2009/001504filed Mar. 3, 2009, and claims priority to German Patent Application No.102008014409.6 filed Mar. 14, 2008, each of which is incorporated hereinby references hereto.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention relate to embedders for embedding awatermark into an information representation, to detectors for detectinga watermark in an information representation, to methods for embedding awatermark into an information representation, to methods for detecting awatermark in an information representation, to corresponding computerprograms and to an information signal.

Some embodiments of the present invention relate to devices and methodsfor repeated watermark embedding and watermark extraction.

In many fields of information processing, it is desirable today to add awatermark to the information. A watermark is, for example, a piece ofinformation which may be added to the actual useful information withoutsubstantially interfering with the actual information. When adding awatermark, for example the data format of the useful information may bemaintained, for example by overlaying the watermark onto the usefulinformation. In some known methods, overlaying the watermark onto theuseful information is executed such that an interference with the usefulinformation is kept so low that, for example, it does not interfere, oronly very weakly, in a reproduction of the useful information.

Watermarks may, for example, be added to an information representationwhich represents an audio signal. Further, watermarks may, for example,be added to an information representation representing a video signal. Awatermark may, however, also be added to an information representation,for example representing a computer program. Still further informationrepresentations representing different data forms may be provided with awatermark.

Special challenges result when several watermarks are to be embeddedinto one single useful information. In this case, frequently a mutualinfluencing of the watermark results, whereby in some case detection ismade more difficult or even impossible. The mutual influencing of thewatermarks may further lead to an interference of the actual usefulinformation becoming unacceptably high.

Further, in some conventional methods the effort necessitated to extractseveral watermarks from an information representation is stronglyincreased.

SUMMARY

According to an embodiment, an embedder for embedding a watermark to beembedded into an input information representation may have: an embeddingparameter determiner that is implemented to apply a derivation functionto an initial value, once or several times, to obtain an embeddingparameter for embedding the watermark to be embedded into the inputinformation representation; and a watermark adder that is implemented toprovide the input information representation with the watermark to beembedded using the embedding parameter, wherein the embedder isimplemented to select how many times the derivation function is to beapplied to the initial value to obtain the embedding parameter; whereinthe embedding parameter determiner is implemented to receive an indexparameter and to determine, depending on the index parameter, how manytimes the derivation function is to be applied to the predeterminedinitial value to obtain the embedding parameter; and wherein theembedder includes a watermark information detector that is implementedto detect watermark information already contained in the inputinformation representation, to obtain information on a number ofwatermarks already contained in the input information representation,and wherein the watermark information detector is implemented to provideone or several index parameters for the embedding parameter determiner,based on the information on the number of watermarks already containedin the input information representation.

According to another embodiment, a detector for detecting at least onewatermark in an input information representation provided with thewatermark may have: a detection parameter determiner that is implementedto apply a derivation function to an initial value, once or severaltimes, to obtain a detection parameter for detecting the watermark inthe input information representation; and a watermark extractor that isimplemented to extract the watermark using the detection parameter fromthe input information representation, wherein the detector isimplemented to select how many times the derivation function is to beapplied to the initial value to obtain the embedding parameter; whereinthe detection parameter determiner is implemented to receive an indexparameter and to determine, depending on the index parameter, how manytimes the derivation function is to be applied to the predeterminedinitial value to obtain the detection parameter; and wherein thedetector includes a watermark information detector that is implementedto detect watermark information contained in the input informationrepresentation, in order to obtain information on a number of watermarkscontained in the input information representation, and wherein thewatermark information detector is implemented to provide one or severalindex parameters for the detection parameter determiner based on theinformation on the number of watermarks contained in the inputinformation representation.

According to another embodiment, an embedder for embedding a watermarkto be embedded into an input information representation may have: anembedding parameter determiner that is implemented to apply a derivationfunction to an initial value, once or several times, to obtain anembedding parameter for embedding the watermark to be embedded into theinput information representation; and a watermark adder that isimplemented to provide the input information representation with thewatermark to be embedded using the embedding parameter, wherein theembedder is implemented to select how many times the derivation functionis to be applied to the initial value to obtain the embedding parameter;wherein the embedding parameter determiner is implemented to obtain anembedding code as the embedding parameter, and wherein the watermarkadder is implemented to provide the input information representationwith the watermark to be embedded using the embedding code as spreadcode.

According to another embodiment, an embedder for embedding a watermarkto be embedded into an input information representation may have: anembedding parameter determiner that is implemented to apply a derivationfunction to an initial value, once or several times, to obtain anembedding parameter for embedding the watermark to be embedded into theinput information representation; and a watermark adder that isimplemented to provide the input information representation with thewatermark to be embedded using the embedding parameter, wherein theembedder is implemented to select how many times the derivation functionis to be applied to the initial value to obtain the embedding parameter;wherein the embedder is implemented to embed a plurality of watermarksinto the input information representation, and wherein the embeddingparameter determiner is implemented to apply the derivation function mtimes to the initial value to obtain an embedding parameter forembedding a first watermark to be embedded into the input informationrepresentation, and to apply the derivation function n times to theinitial value to obtain an embedding parameter for embedding a secondwatermark to be embedded into the input information representation,wherein m≠n.

According to another embodiment, a detector for detecting at least onewatermark in an input information representation provided with thewatermark may have: a detection parameter determiner that is implementedto apply a derivation function to an initial value, once or severaltimes, to obtain a detection parameter for detecting the watermark inthe input information representation; and a watermark extractor that isimplemented to extract the watermark using the detection parameter fromthe input information representation, wherein the detector isimplemented to select how many times the derivation function is to beapplied to the initial value to obtain the embedding parameter; whereinthe detection parameter determiner is implemented to provide a detectioncode as a detection parameter, and wherein the watermark extractor isimplemented to extract a watermark from the input informationrepresentation, by using the detection code as a spread code.

According to another embodiment, a detector for detecting at least onewatermark in an input information representation provided with thewatermark may have: a detection parameter determiner that is implementedto apply a derivation function to an initial value, once or severaltimes, to obtain a detection parameter for detecting the watermark inthe input information representation; and a watermark extractor that isimplemented to extract the watermark using the detection parameter fromthe input information representation, wherein the detector isimplemented to select how many times the derivation function is to beapplied to the initial value to obtain the embedding parameter; whereinthe detector is implemented to extract a plurality of watermarks fromthe input information representation, and wherein the detectionparameter determiner is implemented to apply the derivation function mtimes to the initial value to obtain a detection parameter forextracting a first watermark from the input information representation,and to apply the derivation function n times to the initial value toobtain a detection parameter for extracting the second watermark fromthe input information representation, wherein m≠n.

According to another embodiment, a method for embedding a watermark intoan input information representation may have the steps of: selecting howmany times a derivation function is to be applied to an initial value toobtain an embedding parameter; applying the derivation function once orseveral times to the initial value to obtain an embedding parameter forembedding the watermark into the input information representation; andproviding the input information representation with the watermark usingthe embedding parameter; wherein the embedding includes detectingwatermark information already contained in the input informationrepresentation, to obtain information on a number of watermarks alreadycontained in the input information representation from the additionalinformation, and wherein the embedding includes providing one or severalindex parameters depending on the information on the number ofwatermarks already contained in the input information representation;wherein the embedding includes determining, depending on the indexparameter, how many times the derivation function is to be applied tothe initial value to obtain the embedding parameter.

According to another embodiment, a method for embedding a watermark intoan input information representation may have the steps of: selecting howmany times a derivation function is to be applied to an initial value toobtain an embedding parameter; applying the derivation function once orseveral times to the initial value to obtain an embedding parameter forembedding the watermark into the input information representation; andproviding the input information representation with the watermark usingthe embedding parameter; wherein an embedding code is obtained as theembedding parameter, and wherein the input information representation isprovided with the watermark to be embedded using the embedding code asspread code.

According to another embodiment, a method for embedding a watermark intoan input information representation may have the steps of: selecting howmany times a derivation function is to be applied to an initial value toobtain an embedding parameter; applying the derivation function once orseveral times to the initial value to obtain an embedding parameter forembedding the watermark into the input information representation; andproviding the input information representation with the watermark usingthe embedding parameter wherein a plurality of watermarks are embeddedinto the input information representation, and wherein the derivationfunction is applied m times to the initial value to obtain an embeddingparameter for embedding a first watermark to be embedded into the inputinformation representation, and wherein the derivation function isapplied n times to the initial value to obtain an embedding parameterfor embedding a second watermark to be embedded into the inputinformation representation, wherein m≠n.

According to another embodiment, a method for detecting at least onewatermark in an input information representation provided with thewatermark may have the steps of: selecting how many times a derivationfunction is to be applied to an initial value to obtain a detectionparameter; applying the derivation function once or several times to theinitial value to obtain a detection parameter for detecting thewatermark in the input information representation; and extracting thewatermark from the input information representation using the detectionparameter; wherein it is determined, depending on an index parameter,how many times the derivation function is to be applied to thepredetermined initial value to obtain the detection parameter; andwherein watermark information contained in the input informationrepresentation is detected to obtain information on a number ofwatermarks contained in the input information representation, andwherein one or several index parameters are provided based on theinformation on the number of watermarks contained in the inputinformation representation.

According to another embodiment, a method for detecting at least onewatermark in an input information representation provided with thewatermark may have the steps of: selecting how many times a derivationfunction is to be applied to an initial value to obtain a detectionparameter; applying the derivation function once or several times to theinitial value to obtain a detection parameter for detecting thewatermark in the input information representation; and extracting thewatermark from the input information representation using the detectionparameter, wherein a detection code is provided as detection parameter,and wherein a watermark is extracted from the input informationrepresentation, by using the detection code as spread code.

According to another embodiment, a method for detecting at least onewatermark in an input information representation provided with thewatermark may have the steps of: selecting how many times a derivationfunction is to be applied to an initial value to obtain a detectionparameter; applying the derivation function once or several times to theinitial value to obtain a detection parameter for detecting thewatermark in the input information representation; and extracting thewatermark from the input information representation using the detectionparameter; wherein a plurality of watermarks are extracted from theinput information representation, and wherein the derivation function isapplied m times to the initial value to obtain a detection parameter forextracting a first watermark from the input information representation,and wherein the derivation function is applied n times to the initialvalue to obtain a detection parameter for extracting the secondwatermark from the input information representation, wherein m≠n.

Another embodiment may have a computer program for performing aninventive method, when the computer program runs on a computer.

According to one aspect, the present invention provides an embedder forembedding a watermark into an input information representation. Theembedder comprises an embedding parameter determiner that is implementedto apply a derivation function to an initial value, once or severaltimes, to obtain an embedding parameter for embedding the watermark intothe information representation. Further, the embedder comprises awatermark adder that is implemented to provide the input informationrepresentation with the watermark using the embedding parameter. Theembedder is implemented to select how many times the derivation functionis to be applied to the initial value in order to obtain the embeddingparameter.

The above-mentioned aspect of the present invention is based on theknowledge that, by applying a derivation function once or several times,embedding parameters for embedding a watermark into an informationrepresentation can be generated in a particularly efficient manner.Hence, for example, by using a derivation function, it is sufficient tostore an initial value as well as the derivation function in order toobtain a plurality of different embedding parameters depending on howmany times the embedding function is applied to the initial value.Therewith, for example, the effort for storing many different embeddingparameters is reduced by determining an embedding parameter, forexample, by how many times the derivation function is applied to theinitial value. Hence, even in systems with very little available memorycapacity, an almost arbitrary amount of different embedding parameters(or sets of embedding parameters) can be generated, by applying, forexample, the one-way function several times to the initial value.

Further, the derivation function predetermines a certain sequence ofembedding parameters. For example, the i-th embedding parameter can beobtained by applying the derivation function to the initial value onceor i times, or (i−1) times. Thus, for example, a respective index can beallocated to every embedding parameter. Therefore, a choice of how manytimes the derivation function is applied to the initial valuecorresponds to a determination of the embedding parameter from aplurality of embedding parameters.

Further, it is not necessitated that the specific embedding parametersare already known during the design of a watermark embedder or awatermark detector. Rather, a respective watermark embedder or watermarkdetector can derive an almost arbitrary number of different embeddingparameters. A system (e.g. watermark embedder or watermark detector) ishence not fixed to a predetermined limited set of embedding parameters.Further, by merely varying the initial value, a complete sequence ofembedding parameters can be changed. Hence, changing a single value (theinitial value) has the effect that a large number of new embeddingparameters are available for a watermark embedder or a watermarkextractor. Hence, a whole sequence of embedding parameters whoseelements result by repeatedly applying the derivation function to theinitial value several times can be communicated by transmitting merelyone value (the initial value). Hence, a very efficient data exchange ispossible to adjust the embedder to a new sequence of embeddingparameters.

Further the usage of a derivation function allows to efficientlyallocate different access rights to the different watermark embedders ordifferent watermark detectors. Hence, for example, a cryptographicone-way function can be used as derivation function. If, for example, awatermark embedder or watermark detector knows an absolute initial value(i.e. the very first value of a sequence of values whose elements resultby repeatedly applying the one-way function to the respective previousvalue), the respective watermark embedder or watermark detector will beable to determine all subsequent values of the sequence and hence allpossible embedding parameter values. If, however, a watermark embedderor watermark detector knows merely an intermediate value of the sequenceof embedding parameters, the respective watermark embedder or watermarkdetector (with acceptable effort) will merely be able to determinesubsequent values of the sequence of embedding parameters. Previouselements of the sequence of embedding parameters, however, cannot beobtained or can only be obtained with unacceptably high effort. Hence,with the choice of the respective initial value communicated to awatermark embedder or watermark detector, a decision can be made whichelements of the sequence of embedding parameters the respectivewatermark embedder or watermark detector can determine. This enableseffective selective allocation of access rights.

According to a further aspect, the present invention provides a detectorfor detecting at least one watermark of an information representationprovided with the watermark. The detector comprises a detectionparameter determiner that is implemented to apply a derivation functionto an initial value, once or several times, to obtain a detectionparameter for detecting the watermark in the information representation.Further, the detector comprises a watermark extractor that isimplemented to extract the watermark from the information representationusing the detection parameter. The detector is implemented to select howmany times the derivation function is to be applied to the initial valueto obtain the detection parameter.

The respective detector for detecting a watermark in the informationrepresentation provided with the watermark is based on analogconsiderations like the above-described embedder for embedding awatermark into an input information representation. Again, thedetermination of detection parameters by applying a derivation functiononce or several times enables to minimize the memory space necessitatedfor storing the detection parameters. A sequence of possible detectionparameters does not have to be programmed into the watermark detectorfrom the very beginning, but the watermark detector, using thederivation function, can calculate, during runtime, an almost arbitrarynumber of elements of a sequence of detection parameters.

Additionally, the use of a one-way function as the derivation functionin the watermark detector enables to allocate different access rightswith regard to the information encoded by the watermarks to differentequally structured watermark detectors, for example by storing differentinitial values in different watermark detectors.

In summary, it can be stated that the concept of using a derivationfunction for determining embedding parameters in a watermark embedder ora watermark detector provides a great number of advantages, both withregard to the implementation and also with regard to security.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will be detailed subsequentlyreferring to the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a watermark embedder according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a watermark detector according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 a shows a block diagram of a watermark embedder according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 b shows a block diagram of a watermark embedder according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 c shows a block diagram of a watermark embedder according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a watermark detector according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a watermark embedder according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a watermark detector according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 a shows a block diagram of a watermark embedder having awatermark information detector and an embedding parameter determineraccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 b shows a schematical illustration of an information signalhaving an embedded watermark according to an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 7 c shows a schematical illustration of a determination of a valuesequence using a one-way function;

FIG. 7 d shows a graphical illustration of a procedure of calculating anembedding code based on an initial value;

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of a watermark detector according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of a watermark embedder according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of a watermark detector according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of a method for embedding a watermarkaccording to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of a method for detecting a watermarkaccording to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 13 shows a graphical illustration of a step for embedding awatermark according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 14 shows a flowchart of a method for detecting a watermarkaccording to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart of a method for embedding a watermarkaccording to an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart of a method for detecting a watermarkaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an embedder for embedding a watermark tobe embedded or to be added into an input information representation. Theembedder according to FIG. 1 is designated by 100 in its entirety. Theembedder 100 is implemented to receive an input informationrepresentation 110. The embedder 100 includes a watermark informationdetector 120 which is implemented to detect watermark informationalready contained in the input information representation 110. Thus, thewatermark information detector 120 for example provides information 122about watermark information detected in the input informationrepresentation 110. The embedder 100 further includes a watermark adder130 which is implemented to provide the input information representation110, depending on the watermark information detected by the watermarkinformation detector 120, with a watermark 132 to be added, to obtain aninformation representation 134 provided with the watermark 132 to beembedded. The watermark adder 130 may thus, for example, be implementedto receive the input information representation 110 and the information122 from the watermark information detector 120. Further, the watermarkadder 130 may, for example, be implemented to receive the watermark 132to be added. The watermark 132 to be added may, however, also be firmlystored in the watermark adder 130.

Regarding the functioning of the embedder 100, it is to be noted thatthe watermark adder 130 may add the watermark 132 to be added dependingon the watermark information already contained in the input informationrepresentation 110, to the input information representation 110. Theembedder 100 thus enables the watermark 132 to be added to be added tothe input information representation 110 not in a random way butconsidering the watermark already contained in the input informationrepresentation 110.

Regarding the way in which the watermark already contained in the inputinformation representation 110 is considered by the watermark adder 130,different possibilities exist which are explained in the following, forexample with reference to FIGS. 7 a-7 d in more detail.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a detector for detecting at least twowatermarks in an information representation provided with one watermark.The detector according to FIG. 2 is designated by 200 in its entirety.The detector 200 is implemented to receive an information representation210 provided with a watermark. The detector 200 further includes adetection information detector 220 which is implemented to identifyreusable watermark information in the information representation 210provided with the watermark. The detection information detector 220 isthus, for example, implemented to receive the information representation210 and to provide information 222 about reusable watermark information.The detector 200 further includes a watermark extractor 230 which isimplemented to extract a first watermark using the reusable watermarkinformation from the information representation 210 and to extract asecond watermark using the reusable watermark information from the inputinformation representation 210. The watermark extractor 230 is, forexample, implemented to receive the information representation 210 andthe information 222 provided by the detection information detector 220and, based thereon, to provide information 232 about a first watermarkand information 234 about a second watermark.

Regarding the functioning of the detector 200, it is to be noted thatthe watermark extractor 230 is, for example, implemented to useinformation common to both watermarks for the detection of the firstwatermark described by the information 232 and for the detection of thesecond watermark described by the information 234. For example, thecommon reusable information may be synchronization information which isfor both watermarks. Thus, it is sufficient in this case, for example,to detect the synchronization information only once, whereupon thedetection of the at least two watermarks may be executed based on thecommon synchronization information.

The common, reusable information may, for example, additionally oralternatively be information which indicates that the first watermarkand the second watermark may be detected with at least one commondetection parameter. For example, the information representation 210 maycontain information which indicates that at least two watermarks wereembedded into the information representation 210 according to a commonembedding method, so that the watermark extractor 230 may assume that atleast two watermarks may be extracted with a corresponding commonextraction method from the information representation 210.

Further, for example, the information representation 210 may carryinformation about how many watermarks are embedded in the informationrepresentation 210. The corresponding number information may, forexample, be regarded as common information which commonly describes theat least two watermarks contained in the information representation 210.The number information may, for example, be extracted by the detectioninformation detector 220 and may further be used, for example, to setone or several extraction parameters for the watermark extractor 230 tocorrectly extract several watermarks from the information representation210. In other words, the number information may be used to correctly setdetection parameters of the watermark extractor 230 for the extractionof two different watermarks.

If it is know, for example, that three watermarks are contained in theinformation representation 210, then, for example, in the extraction ofthe first watermark and in the extraction of the second watermark suchdetection parameters which are provided for embedding a fourth to n^(th)watermark may be left out of consideration. Rather, it is sufficient tolimit the range of detection parameters to be considered according tothe number of watermarks present.

Further details are again described in the following, for example withreference to FIGS. 7 a-7 d.

FIG. 3 a shows a block diagram of an embedder for embedding a watermarkto be embedded into an input information representation according to anembodiment of the invention. The embedder according to FIG. 3 a isdesignated by 300 in its entirety. The embedder 300 is implemented toreceive an input information representation 310 and to provide aninformation representation 320 provided with a watermark and additionalinformation. The embedder 300 includes an information adder 330 which isimplemented to receive the input information representation 310 and toprovide the information representation 320 provided with the watermarkand the additional information. The information adder 330 is all in allimplemented to provide the information representation 310 with thewatermark 341 to be added and additional information 343 to be added toobtain the information representation 320 provided with the watermarkand the additional information. The additional information to be addedincludes descriptive information regarding an embedding of at least onewatermark into the information representation. For example, thedescriptive information describes embedding at least one watermark intothe information representation.

FIG. 3 a shows an exemplary topology of the information adder 330. Theinformation adder 330 may, for example, in a parallel structure,comprise a watermark adder 340 and an additional information adder 342.For example, both the watermark adder 360 and also the additionalinformation adder 342 may receive the input information representation310 to add the watermark to be added or the additional information to beadded. For example, the watermark adder 340 may be implemented toreceive the input information representation 310 and the watermark 341to be added or to be embedded and, based thereupon, to generate aninformation representation 344 provided with the watermark to be added.The additional information adder 342 may, for example, be configured toreceive the input information representation 310 and the additionalinformation to be added 343 and, based thereupon, to generate aninformation representation 346 provided with the additional information.The information representation 344 provided with the watermark mayfurther, for example, be combined with the information representation346 provided with the additional information to obtain the informationrepresentation 320 provided with the watermark and additionalinformation, as is indicated in FIG. 3 a. Alternatively, it is alsopossible, however, that the watermark adder 340 provides as an outputsignal watermark information adapted to the information representation310, that the additional information adder 342 provides additionalinformation adapted to the information representation 310 and that theoutput signals of the watermark adder 340 and the additional informationadder 342 are subsequently combined with the input informationrepresentation 310 to obtain the information representation 320 provideda watermark and additional information.

Alternatively, the information adder 330 may also comprise otherstructures, as are described, for example, in FIGS. 3 b and 3 c. Forexample, the information adder of the embedder 300 may be replaced by aninformation adder 330 b according to FIG. 3 b. The information adder 330b includes, for example, a series arrangement of a watermark adder 340 band an additional information adder 342 b. The watermark adder 340 b isconfigured, for example, to receive the input information representation310 and to provide the input information representation 344 b providedwith a watermark to the additional information adder 342 b. Theadditional information adder 342 b may be configured, for example, toadd the additional information to be added to the informationrepresentation 344 b provided with the watermark and to thus provide theinformation representation 320 provided with the watermark andadditional information.

As it may be gathered from FIG. 3 c, the order of the additionalinformation adder and the watermark adder may, of course, also bechanged with respect to the order illustrated with reference to FIG. 3b. In this case, an additional information adder 342 c is, for example,arranged in front of a watermark adder 340 c.

In summary, it is to be noted that different structures may be used toadd both the watermark to be added and also the additional informationto be added to the input information representation 310. Adding thesetwo pieces of information may, apart from that, also be done by a commoninformation adder in which the blocks “watermark adder” and “additionalinformation adder” are combined or summarized. In other words, noseparate adder is necessitated for the watermark and the additionalinformation.

However, the additional information to be added may well depend onembedding parameters of the watermark adder. Thus, for example, theadditional information may encode how the watermark adder is configuredor parameterized to add the watermark to be added. For example, theadditional information may contain information on which watermark methodthe watermark adder used for adding the watermark to be added. Further,the additional information may also describe individual parameters whichthe watermark adder uses when providing the input informationrepresentation 310 with the watermark to be added. Thus, the additionalinformation may, for example, carry information about which embeddingcode the watermark adder 340 is using, which frequency resources (e.g.frequency bands) the watermark adder 340 is using for embedding thewatermark, or which time resources (e.g. time slots) the watermark adderis using for embedding the watermark. Further, the watermark adder 340and the additional information adder 342 may, for example, also usedifferent embedding methods when it is, for example, requested accordingto a specification that the additional information is to be embeddedaccording to a predetermined embedding method, independent of whichembedding method the watermark adder 340 is using. In this case, thewatermark adder 340 and the additional information adder 342 are, forexample, implemented such that no substantial mutual interferenceresults when adding the watermark and when adding the additionalinformation.

Further details regarding the embedding of a watermark and additionalinformation are explained in more detail in the following, for examplewith reference to FIGS. 7 a-7 d.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a detector for detecting at least onewatermark in an input information representation provided with awatermark. The detector according to FIG. 4 is designated by 400 in itsentirety. The detector 400 is implemented to receive an informationrepresentation (or input information representation) provided with awatermark. The detector 400 includes an embedding information extractor420 which is implemented to receive the information representation 410provided with the watermark and to extract embedding information 422,including descriptive information regarding the embedding of at leastone watermark into the information representation, from the informationrepresentation 410.

The detector 400 further includes a watermark extractor 430 which isimplemented to receive the information representation 410 provided withthe watermark and the descriptive information 422 with respect to theembedding of at least one watermark into the information representation410. The watermark extractor 430 is further implemented to extract oneor several watermarks contained in the information representation 410depending on the embedding information 422 and to thus provideinformation 432 about at least one watermark.

The watermark extractor 430 may thus pointedly identify a watermark inthe information representation 410 based on the embedding information422. Based on the descriptive information 422, the watermark extractor430 has, for example, information 422 regarding the fact using whichembedding method a watermark present in the information representation410 is embedded into the information representation. Alternatively oradditionally, information 422 may, for example, be provided to thewatermark extractor 430 from the embedding information extractor 420about the fact which detection code or extraction code is to be used forthe extraction of a watermark from the information representation 410.Further, the embedding information extractor 420 may, for example,provide information to the watermark extractor 430 about how manywatermarks are contained in the information representation 410.

The embedding information extractor 420 may, for providing thedescriptive information 422, evaluate, for example, additionalinformation contained in the information representation. Additionalinformation may, for example, be information not belonging to the actualinformation content of the watermark but describing in which way one orseveral watermarks are embedded in the information representation 410.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of an embedder for embedding a watermarkinto an information representation or into an input informationrepresentation according to an embodiment of the invention. The embedderaccording to FIG. 5 is designated by 500 in its entirety. The embedder500 is implemented to receive an input information representation 510and to generate an information representation 534 provided with awatermark to be embedded or to be added. The embedder 500 includes anembedding parameter determiner 520. The embedding parameter determineris implemented to apply a schematically indicated derivation function522 one or several times to an initial value 524 to obtain an embeddingparameter 526 for embedding the watermark to be embedded into theinformation representation. The embedder 500 further includes awatermark adder 530 which is implemented to receive the inputinformation representation 510 and the embedding parameter 526. Further,the watermark adder 530 may be implemented to receive the watermark 532to be added or to be embedded. The watermark to be added or to beembedded may further also be firmly stored in the watermark adder 530.

Thus, the watermark adder 530 provides, for example by embedding thewatermark 532 to be added into the input information representation 510using the embedding parameters 526, an information representation 534provided with the watermark to be embedded.

The embedder 500 thus enables the determination of the embeddingparameters 526 based on an initial value 524, wherein a derivationfunction 522 is evaluated. By the possibility of evaluating thederivation function 522 several times, there is the possibility, basedon one single initial value 524, of generating different sets ofembedding parameters 526 in a simple way. By the use of a derivationfunction, which may, for example, be a cryptographic one-way function,it may be achieved that access rights are allocated to differentembedders. Details in this respect are given in the following.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a detector for detecting a watermark inan information representation provided with a watermark. The detectoraccording to FIG. 6 is designated by 600 in its entirety. The detector600 is implemented to receive an information representation or an inputinformation representation 610 provided with a watermark and to provideinformation 634 about a watermark contained in the informationrepresentation 610.

The detector 600 includes a detection parameter determiner 620. Thedetection parameter determiner 620 is implemented to apply aschematically illustrated derivation function 622, one or several times,to an initial value 624 which may be given externally or which may bestored in the detection parameter determiner 620, and thus obtain adetection parameter 626 for the detection of the watermark in theinformation representation.

The detector 600 further includes a watermark extractor 630 which isimplemented to receive the information representation 610 provided withthe watermark and the detection parameter 626. The watermark extractor630 is further configured to extract the information 634 about awatermark contained in the information representation 610 from theinformation representation 610 provided with the watermark using thedetection parameter 626. In other words, the detection parameter 626serves for setting the watermark extractor 630. The detection parametermay here, for example, indicate which resources (e.g. which time slotsor frequency bands) are applied in the detection of the watermark.Alternatively or additionally, the detection parameter 626 may, forexample, be used to determine a detection code, if, for example, in theinformation representation 610 different watermarks with different codesare separate from each other.

Further, the detection parameter determiner 620 may, for example, beimplemented to decide, for example, based on an (optional) indexparameter 640, how often the derivation function 622 is to be applied tothe initial value 624 to obtain the detection parameter 626.

Apart from that, it is to be noted that, when determining the detectionparameter 626 from the initial value 624, also additional algorithms maybe used, for example. Thus, for example, an intermediate result obtainedby the application of the derivation function to the initial value mayserve as an input value for a calculation regulation which maps theintermediate result to a detection code. By the application of thecorresponding function regulation it may, for example, be achieved thatthe thus obtained detection parameter comprises certain characteristicswhich are advantageous, or necessitated, for a watermark extraction. Forexample, the intermediate value, obtained by an application, once orseveral times, of the derivation function 622 to the initial value 624,may serve as an initial value (seed) for a spread code generator whichdetermines different spread codes based on different seeds, wherein thespread codes are, for example, at least approximately orthogonal to eachother. The corresponding spread codes may serve, for example, asdetection parameters 626.

However, many other possibilities are possible for mapping theintermediate result, obtained by the application of the derivationfunction to the initial value, to a detection parameter 626.

FIG. 7 a shows a block diagram of an embedder for embedding thewatermark to be added into an information representation or into aninput information representation. The embedder according to FIG. 7 a isdesignated by 700 in its entirety. The embedder 700 is implemented toreceive an input information representation 710 and to generate, basedthereon, an information representation 720 provided with a watermark.The information representation 720 provided with the watermark mayfurther be optionally provided with additional information, for exampledescribing the embedding.

The embedder 700 includes a watermark information detector 730 which isimplemented to receive the input information representation 710 and toobtain information regarding the embedding of a watermark therefrom. Theembedder 700 further includes a watermark adder 740 which isimplemented, for example using information provided by the watermarkinformation detector 730, to add a watermark to be added to the inputinformation representation 710 to obtain the information representation720 provided with the watermark. The embedder 700 further includes, forexample, an embedding parameter determiner 750 which is implemented toreceive information from the watermark information detector 730 and tothus provide one or several embedding parameters to the watermark adder740 so that, for example, the watermark adder 740 may be set dependingon the setting parameters provided by the embedding parameter determiner750.

The embedder 700 further includes an additional information provider 760which is implemented to receive, from the watermark informationdetector, information regarding a watermark contained in the inputinformation representation 710 and to provide additional information tothe watermark adder 740 which may, for example, be added by thewatermark adder 740 to the input information representation 710, so thatthe information representation 720 provided with the watermark furtherincludes the additional information.

In the following, details are described regarding which information maybe obtained by the watermark information detector 730 from the inputinformation representation 710, and how this information may be used bythe watermark adder 740, the embedding parameter determiner 750 and theadditional information provider 760.

The watermark information detector 730 may, for example, include adetector 731 for the detection of reusable watermark information. Thedetector 731 for reusable watermark information may, for example, beimplemented to detect synchronization information in the inputinformation representation 710. The synchronization information may, forexample, exist when a watermark is already present in the inputinformation representation 710. The synchronization information may, forexample, be a certain pattern contained in the input informationrepresentation 710 which may, for example, precede a watermark embeddedinto the input information representation 710 or which may, for example,be interleaved with a watermark embedded into the input informationrepresentation 710. The synchronization information may, for example, bea firmly given pattern which may be contained in the input informationrepresentation 710 encoded according to a certain encoding. For example,the synchronization information may be embedded into the inputinformation representation 710 according to a predeterminedsynchronization embedding code. For example, the synchronizationinformation may occur simultaneously (or at least overlapping in time)in several individual frequency bands in the information representation,whereby the synchronization information is, for example, especially welldetectable. The detector 731 for the reusable watermark information maythus, for example, provide information 732 about the reusable watermarkinformation to the watermark adder 740. The watermark adder 740 may, forexample, be implemented, in response to the presence of reusablewatermark information in the input information representation, toprevent a renewed embedding of the reusable watermark information. Forexample, the watermark adder 740 may be configured to only addsynchronization information to the input information representation 710when the information 732 of the detector 731 for the reusable watermarkinformation indicates that in the input information representation 710no watermark information is yet present or detectable.

If the information 732 of the determiner 731 for reusable watermarkinformation indicates, for example, that in the input informationrepresentation 710 synchronization information is already present, thenthe watermark adder 740 may, for example, add the watermark to be addedsynchronized with the already existing synchronization information inthe input information representation. For this purpose, the detector 731may, for example, provide information for the reusable watermarkinformation to the watermark adder 740 with regard to where in the inputinformation representation (for example at what time or in whichfrequency bands) synchronization information already exists. Basedthereon, the watermark adder 740 may, for example, calculate ordetermine where (for example in which time interval or in whichfrequency bands) the watermark to be added is to be added to the inputinformation representation 710.

Further, the watermark adder 740 may be configured to addsynchronization information to the input information representation 710when the information 732 of the detector 731 for reusable watermarkinformation indicates that, in the input information representation 710,no reusable synchronization information was detected.

By the repeated use of the synchronization information when embedding afurther watermark by the watermark adder 740 into an input informationrepresentation, in which synchronization information (and thus in manycases also watermark information) already exists, on the one hand anegative influencing of the information representation 710 by embeddingthe watermark to be embedded may be minimized and, on the other hand, aresource-saving detection of several watermarks may be enabled in theinformation representation 720 provided with a watermark. Thus,conventionally, the influence on an information representation is less,the less information is embedded into the same. If thus synchronizationinformation already existing in the information representation 720 isreused instead of embedding new additional synchronization information,an influence on the information content of the informationrepresentation may be minimized. On the side of a watermark detection itis, apart from that, sufficient in the reuse of the synchronizationinformation to detect the synchronization information once. Thus, thedetection effort may be kept low as compared to when two differentpieces of synchronization information would have to be detected.

The watermark information detector may further comprise, for example, adetector 733 for detecting additional information contained in the inputinformation representation 710. The detector 733 may, for example,provide information 734 about the additional information. The additionalinformation may, for example, be page information describing theembedding of one or several watermarks into the input informationrepresentation 710. For example, the additional information may carryinformation about how many watermarks are already embedded in the inputinformation representation 710. The additional information here does notnecessarily have to describe the overall number of embedded watermarks,but may be restricted to indicating how many watermarks were embeddedaccording to a certain watermark embedding method into the inputinformation representation. The information about the number of theexisting watermarks may further be restricted to indicate how manywatermarks were embedded by a certain watermark embedder into the inputinformation representation. In an ideal case which may, however, not beachieved, the information about the number of existing watermarks mayalso carry information about an overall number of watermarks. In someembodiments, thus the information about the number of existingwatermarks at least provides information about a minimum number ofexisting watermarks, wherein more watermarks may in fact exist.

The detector 733 may further be implemented, for example, to detectadditional information which indicates according to which watermarkembedding method or according to which watermark embedding methods thewatermarks existing in the input information representation 710 areembedded. This information may, for example, exist in connection withthe synchronization information in the input information representation710. For example, the synchronization information may containinformation, for example by the selection of the synchronizationpattern, according to which watermark embedding method the watermarkinformation contained in the information representation 710 is embedded.Alternatively or additionally, also subsequent to the synchronizationinformation or parallel to the synchronization information,corresponding additional information may exist in the input informationrepresentation 710 which indicates according to which watermarkembedding method one or several watermarks are embedded in the inputinformation representation 710.

Alternatively or additionally, the additional information may, forexample carry information about what resources (e.g. time slots,frequency bands or embedding codes or spread codes) were used forembedding one or several watermarks into the input informationrepresentation. This information may be contained in additionalinformation which may, for example, comprise the above-describedstructure. In other words, corresponding additional information may, forexample, be contained within the synchronization information, parallelin time to the synchronization information or subsequent to thesynchronization information (for example directly subsequent to thesynchronization information) in the input information representation. Insome embodiments, the additional information is encoded separately tothe associated watermark information described by the additionalinformation. While the watermark information thus, for example, encodesa certain useful information which is, for example, freely selectable onthe embedder side, the additional information may, for example, bedetermined on the basis of the fact by which parameters the actualuseful information of the watermark is encoded or embedded. In otherwords, in some embodiments a strict logical separation between theadditional information directed to the type of representation of theuseful information in the watermark, and the actual useful informationitself which is encoded by the watermark may exist. In other words,using the additional information, for example embedding parameters,using which the useful information to be encoded by the water wasembedded into the information representation, are identified withouthaving to decode the useful information of the watermark. In otherwords, the additional information is in some embodiments independent ofthe useful information encoded by the watermark and only depends onparameters according to which an embedder is operated.

In some embodiments, the watermark information detector 730 includes adetector 735 for embedding parameters of embedded watermarks. Thedetector 735 may, for example, receive the input informationrepresentation 710 and thereupon provide information 736 on embeddingparameters, using which one or several watermarks are embedded into theinput information representation 710. The detector 735 may, for example,be implemented to analyze the input information representation 710 inorder to find out, using which settings or parameters watermarks wereembedded into the input information representation 710. For thispurpose, the detector 735 may, for example, also analyze the watermarksthemselves. For example, the detector may apply a pattern recognitionmethod to the input information representation in order to determinewhether watermarks were embedded into the input informationrepresentation 710 according to a certain embedding method. As apattern-recognizing method, for example a correlation method may beused, according to which the input information representation 710 iscorrelated with one or several comparative values. Further, the detectormay also apply other algorithms in order to obtain information 736 on anembedding parameter of at least one watermark already contained withinthe input information representation 710.

In other words, while the detector 733 may, for example, be implementedto evaluate additional information which is different from the usefulinformation represented by the watermark, the detector 735 may, forexample be implemented to analyze the watermark information representedby the useful information. Thus, different possibilities exist as to theway in which information may be obtained on a watermark contained in theinput information representation 710. Apart from evaluating theadditional information by the detector 733, also a direct analysis ofthe watermark information (or, in some embodiments, of the completewatermark information including the useful information) is available.

In one further embodiment, the watermark information detector 730 may(alternatively or additionally) include a detector 737 which isimplemented to determine a number of watermarks embedded in the inputinformation. The detector 737 may, for example, be implemented toreceive the input information representation 710 and to provideinformation 738 about the number of embedded watermarks (or detectedembedded watermarks).

As was already described above, it is not compulsory for the information738 to describe all the watermarks contained in the input informationrepresentation. Rather, it is sufficient in some embodiments if theinformation 738 describes a number of watermarks detected in the inputinformation representation.

In summary it is to be noted that there is a multitude of possibilitiesfor obtaining information by the watermark information detector 730which describes the embedding of watermarks in the input informationrepresentation 710. The corresponding information 732, 734, 736, 738 maybe used in different ways, as is described in the following.

For example, the information 732 may directly be transferred to thewatermark adder 740 via reusable watermark information, so that the samemay decide, for example based on the information on reusable watermarkinformation, whether reusable watermark information is contained in theinput information representation 710. The possibly reusable informationmay then be directly used by the watermark adder 740.

Further, the additional information provider 760 may receive theinformation 732, 734, 736, 738 provided by the watermark informationdetector 730 (or maybe only one or several pieces of the mentionedinformation) and derive therefrom additional information to be added tothe input information representation 710. The additional informationmay, for example, include information regarding the embedding ofwatermarks or watermark information already contained in the inputinformation representation 710. For example, the additional information762 may comprise a reference to the additional information 734 alreadycontained in the input information representation 710 and detected bythe detector 733. Further, the additional information 762 to be addedmay, for example, include a copy of the additional information 734contained in the input information representation 710 and further besupplemented by other information related, for example, to the embeddingof the watermark to be added. Further, the additional information 732may, for example, describe a number of watermarks contained in theinformation representation 720 provided with the watermark to be added.If thus, by the watermark information detector 730, information about anumber of watermarks embedded in the input information representation710 is provided, then, for example, the additional information provider760 may increment the mentioned number and thus generate the additionalinformation 762 so that the same describes a number of watermarkscontained after adding the watermark to be added in the informationrepresentation 720. Further, the additional information 762 may includeinformation on embedding parameters of watermarks already contained inthe input information representation 710 about embedding parameters,according to which the watermark to be added is embedded.

It is to be noted that the additional information 762 does, of course,not have to include all of the mentioned information, but that it issufficient if the additional information only includes one or several ofthe mentioned pieces of information.

In some embodiments, however, advantages result when the additionalinformation 762 not only describes how the watermark to be added isadded to the input information representation 710, but when theadditional information 762 further also includes information onwatermarks already contained in the input information representation710. This combined information describing both the watermarks alreadyexisting in the input information representation 710 and also theembedding of the watermark to be embedded may be evaluated in anespecially efficient way by a detector. Thus, a detector may, forexample, by evaluating one single additional information, obtainextensive information on the embedding of all watermarks contained inthe input information representation 710 (or at least with respect to aplurality of watermarks contained in the input informationrepresentation). It is thus not necessitated to evaluate many individualpieces of additional information and to compile their information.

The embedding parameter determiner 750 may further be implemented to setor adapt embedding parameters for the embedding of the watermark to beadded by the watermark adder 740 depending on one or several pieces ofinformation 732, 734, 736, 738 provided by the watermark informationdetector 730. If, for example, the additional information 734 includesinformation on using which resources (e.g. using which time slots, usingwhich frequency bands or using which embedding codes) the watermarksalready contained in the input information representation 710 areembedded, then the embedding parameter determiner 750 may, for example,select suitable embedding parameters or embedding resources forembedding the watermark to be added. For example, the embeddingparameter determiner 750 may be configured to select the resources forthe embedding of the watermark to be added so that no unacceptableintersections whatsoever result between the resources used in theembedding of the watermark to be added and the resources used in theembedding of the already existing watermarks. Based on the informationregarding which time slots are used by the watermarks already containedin the input information representation 710, the embedding parameterdeterminer 750 may, for example, select a free time slot for theembedding of the watermark to be added. In a similar way, the embeddingparameter determiner 750 may select suitable (free or only relativelyweakly occupied) frequency bands for the embedding of the watermark tobe added, when the information provided by the watermark informationdetector 730 indicates the occupation of frequency bands.

If the information provided by the watermark information detector 730indicates which embedding code or which embedding codes were used forembedding information into the input information representation 710,then the embedding parameter determiner 750 may, for example, furtherselect an embedding code for embedding the watermark to be added whichis, for example, different from the embedding codes used in the inputinformation representation 710. For example, the embedding parameterdeterminer 750 may select an embedding code for the embedding of thewatermark to be added, which is at least approximately orthogonal toembedding codes which were used for the embedding of watermarks alreadycontained in the input information representation. Thus it may, forexample be guaranteed by the evaluation of the input informationrepresentation 710 by the watermark information detector 730 that thewatermark to be added is embedded using an embedding code which isdifferent from the embedding codes of the already existing watermarks.

In one embodiment, the embedding parameter determiner may be implementedto also generate embedding parameters for an embedding of additionalinformation as is, for example, provided by the additional informationprovider 760. In this case, the embedding parameter determiner 750 may,for example, be configured to set the embedding parameters for theembedding of the additional information 762 such that the additionalinformation 762 is embedded substantially using the same embeddingparameters as additional information already contained in the inputinformation representation 710. For this purpose, for example thewatermark information detector 730 may also provide information onembedding parameters, using which additional information alreadycontained in the information representation 710 was embedded into theinput information representation 710. In this way, it may, for example,be enabled that both the additional information already contained in theinput information representation 710 and also the additional information762 to be added may be detected efficiently by a detector.

In a further embodiment, the information 738 about the number ofembedded watermarks may be evaluated to determine or specify theembedding parameters. For example, the embedding parameter determiner750 may comprise a functionality, corresponding to a functionality ofthe embedding parameter determiner 520, as was explained with referenceto FIG. 5. The information 738 about the number of embedded watermarks(which may, for example, be determined either based on additionalinformation in the input information representation or based on ananalysis of the input information representation) may, for example, beused to decide how often the derivation function 522 is applied to theinitial value 524 in order to obtain the embedding parameter 526.

In summary it may thus be noted that, by the embedding parameterdeterminer 750, for example one or several embedding parameters 752 maybe generated which may then be supplied to the watermark adder 740. Theembedding parameters may here, for example, be selected based oninformation 732, 734, 736, 738 on watermarks already contained in theinput information representation 710. The embedding parameters may, forexample, serve for selecting an embedding method. Further, the embeddingparameters may also describe details regarding the embedding, e.g. anembedding code, an embedding time slot or an embedding frequency band.

Further details regarding individual aspects of the embedder 700 aredescribed in the following with reference to FIGS. 7 b-7 d. Thus, FIG. 7b shows a graphical representation of resources which are available foran embedding of watermark information. The graphical illustration ofFIG. 7 b is designated by 770 in its entirety. The graphicalillustration 770 illustrates a time/frequency band representation of aninformation representation. At an abscissa 772, for example time isplotted, and at an ordinate 774, for example frequency is plotted. Thetime/frequency representation may, for example, represent an audiosignal which may be divided into individual time sections and frequencybands. A corresponding representation of an audio signal may, forexample, take place by a spectral analysis as may, for example, beachieved by a filter bank. Different time sections are, for example,designated by 776 a-776 f. Different frequency bands are, by the way,designated by 777 a-777 g.

In one time section 776 b, for example in the frequency bands 777 a-777f, basically synchronization information (SYNC) is contained. Further,for example in another frequency band 777 g in the time section 776 b(i.e. parallel in time to the synchronization information), additionalinformation may be contained describing the embedding of a watermark.The additional information in the frequency band 777 g during the timeinterval 776 b may, of course, be regarded as optional. Further,additional information may also, for example, be contained in a timeslot after the synchronization information (SYNC). For example, thesynchronization information in the frequency bands 777 a-777 f may becontained during the time section 776 c.

For example, the additional information for different embeddedwatermarks may be contained in different frequency bands (or timeslots). For example, the additional information describing a firstembedded watermark or inserted in a first watermark embedding, may becontained in the frequency band 777 f during the time section 776 c.Additional information relating to the embedding of a second watermark,or added in the embedding of a second watermark, may, for example, beinserted in the frequency band 776 e during the time section 776 c. Ingeneral, additional information describing the embedding of differentwatermarks, or those which are embedded in different embedding steps,may be added to the information representation using different resources(here: using different frequency bands). Thus, for example when adding afurther watermark, the existing additional information is supplementedby adding further additional information, for example using hithertounused resources. Thus, for example an overlapping of additionalinformation is prevented, whereby it is, for example, achieved that theinformation representation is not unnecessarily strongly affected, andwhereby it is further achieved that the individual additionalinformation is readable without mutual interferences. In this respect itis to be noted that, in the embedding of watermark information in aninformation representation, it is generally difficult or even impossibleto remove or change information (e.g. additional information) again onceinserted into the information representation. For this reason, in someembodiments of the invention, when adding a watermark to be added,additional information is added to possibly already existing additionalinformation.

The graphical illustration 770 further shows different resources usedfor the embedding of different watermarks. For example, usefulinformation of the first watermark may be inserted into resourcesections designated by a first hatching 778 a. For example, theinformation of the first watermark in the first time section 776 d maybe contained in the frequency bands 777 b, 777 d and 777 f. Further, theinformation of the first watermark during the fourth time section 776 fmay be contained in the frequency bands 777 b, 777 d and 777 f.Information of a second watermark may, for example, be contained, orencoded, using the resources designated by a second hatching 778 b (timesection 776 d: frequency bands 777 a, 777 c, 777 e; time section 776 f:frequency bands 777 a, 777 c, 777 e). Useful information of the thirdwatermark may, for example, be contained in resources designated by athird hatching 778 c, and useful information of a fourth watermark may,for example, be contained in resources designated by a fourth hatching778 d.

From the graphical illustration 770 it may, for example, be gatheredthat the useful information of the watermarks (described by the fieldsof the graphical illustration 770 designated by hatchings 778 a, 778 b,778 c, 778 d) saved separate from corresponding additional informationin the watermark.

In summary it may be noted that the graphical illustration of FIG. 7 bmay describe an information signal, wherein, in addition to underlyinguseful information (for example including an audio signal, imageinformation, text information or computer program information), awatermark and, for example, additional information is contained in theinformation signal. The information signal may be supplemented by allthose features and aspects described within the scope of the presentspecification with regard to the embedders or detectors.

FIG. 7 c shows a graphical illustration of a procedure in adetermination of an embedding parameter using a one-way function. Thegraphical illustration according to FIG. 7 c is designated by 780 in itsentirety. In the following it is first of all assumed that a first value782 is known to an embedder (or a detector), wherein the first value 782may also be regarded as the first initial value, or “initial value 1”.By applying the mentioned one-way function, a second value 784 may, forexample, be obtained from the first value 782. Here, for example, analgorithm is known as to how the second value 784 may be obtained fromthe first value 782 with comparatively low computational effort. In someembodiments, however, it is not possible, or only possible with extremeeffort, to calculate the first value 782 from the second value 784. Forthis reason, the one-way function is partially also referred to as a“cryptographic one-way function”.

From the second value 784, however, by a further application of theone-way function, for example a third value 786 may be obtained. Inother words, the same algorithm is applied to the second value 784 whichwas applied to the first value 782 for determining the second value 784,and thus, for example, from the second value 784 the third value 786 isobtained. By a further application of the one-way function to the thirdvalue 786, for example a fourth value 788 may be obtained. The one-wayfunction is again applied to the fourth value 788, and thus, forexample, a fifth value 789 is obtained. It thus remains to be noted thatit is sufficient to know the first value 782 and the one-way function(or the algorithm described by the one-way function) to obtain thesecond to fifth values 784-789 from the first value 782 by a repeatedapplication of the one-way function.

The values 782-789 may, apart from that, for example be used to serve asa description for embedding parameters or detection parameters of anembedder or detector, as was already explained above.

Further, an administration of different access rights may beimplemented. If, for example, a first embedder (or detector) knows thefirst value 782 (initial value 1), it may, based thereon, using theone-way function, determine all the values 782-789 with lowcomputational effort. If, however, an embedder (or detector) only knowsthe third value 786 (initial value 2), then the corresponding embedder(or detector) may only determine the fourth value 788 or the fifth value789 (or subsequent values) using reasonable computational effort. Thementioned detector, which only knows the third value 786 (initial value2) and the one-way function, but not the first value 782 or the secondvalue 784, can thus not determine the first value 782 and the secondvalue 784 using reasonable computational effort. Accordingly, thementioned detector only knowing the initial value 2 cannot execute theembedding or detection of a watermark, so that the embedding parameterscorrespond to the embedding parameters belonging to the first value 782or the second value 784. Thus, it may, for example, be guaranteed thatan embedder which only knows the third value 786 (initial value 2) maynot execute in an unauthorized way an embedding of a watermark accordingto the embedding parameters belonging to the first value 782 oraccording to the embedding parameters belonging to the second value 784.

In the following it is briefly described with reference to FIG. 7 d how,using a one-way function, an embedding parameter may be obtained. Forthis purpose, FIG. 7 d shows a graphical illustration of a procedurewhen determining an embedding code or a detection code from an initialvalue using a one-way function. The graphical illustration according toFIG. 7 d is designated by 790 in its entirety. The graphicalillustration 790 shows that, based on an initial value 792, anintermediate result 794 may be obtained by the application of a one-wayfunction once or several times. The intermediate result 794, forexample, corresponds to the second value 784, the third value 786, thefourth value 788 or the fifth value 789 according to FIG. 7 c. Theintermediate result 794 may, of course, also correspond to other values,which may, for example, be obtained by an application of the one-wayfunction more than four times to the first value 782 or to the initialvalue 782. The intermediate result 794 may, for example, serve as a seed(starting parameter) for an embedding code generation. For example,based on the intermediate result 794, an embedding code may be generatedby supplying the intermediate result as a seed to a code generator. As acode generator, here, for example, a feedback shift register arrangementmay serve, as it may be known for the generation of pseudo-randomnumbers. Different initial values for the feedback shift registerarrangement in some embodiments leads to different code sequences at anoutput of the feedback shift register arrangement, wherein the differentcode sequences may, for example, form the different embedding codes. Inother words, for example a first code sequence is generated by afeedback shift register arrangement when the feedback shift registerarrangement is provided or pulsed with the first initial value. Further,a second bit sequence or code sequence is generated when the feedbackshift register arrangement is provided with a second initial value. Thedifferent bit sequences, for example, form the different code sequences.

For the determination of the embedding code or detection code 796 fromthe intermediate result 794, however, generally any algorithm may beused which enables obtaining different codes based on different seeds794, wherein the codes, for example at least approximately, comprisedefault characteristics (e.g. stochastic characteristics). For derivingan embedding parameter from the intermediate result 794, also otheralgorithms may be applied. For example, individual bits of theintermediate result 794 may be directly used to directly form theembedding parameters. Further, different mappings (which may, forexample, be defined by associated mapping tables or logic tables) arepossible for determining an embedding parameter from the intermediateresult 794.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of a detector for extracting a watermarkfrom an information representation provided with a watermark. Thedetector according to FIG. 8 is designated by 800 in its entirety. Thedetector 800 is, for example, implemented to receive an informationrepresentation 810 provided with a watermark and to provide at least onewatermark contained in the information representation 810. In someembodiments, the detector 800 may be implemented, however, to provideinformation on a plurality of watermarks contained in the informationrepresentation 810. For example, the detector 800 may be implemented toprovide information 820 on a first watermark and to provide information822 on a second watermark.

The detector 800 includes, for example, a watermark information detector830 which is implemented to receive the information representation 810provided with the watermark and to provide, based thereupon, informationon watermark information contained in the information representation810. For example, the watermark information detector 830 may comprisethe same basic functionality as the watermark information detector 730of the embedder 700. Apart from that, the watermark information detector830 may, for example, correspond to the detection information detector220 according to FIG. 2.

Thus, the watermark information detector 830 may, for example, beimplemented to provide information 832 on the reusable watermarkinformation. Further, the watermark information detector 830 may beimplemented to provide additional information 834, for examplecorresponding to the additional information 734, based on theinformation representation 810 provided with at least one watermark.Further, the watermark information detector 830 may be implemented toprovide, based on the information representation 810, information 836 onembedding parameters basically corresponding to the information 736, forexample. Alternatively or additionally, the watermark informationdetector 830, based on the information representation 810, may provideinformation 838 on a number of watermarks embedded in the informationrepresentation 810. In this respect it is to be noted that it is, forexample, sufficient for the watermark information detector to provideone of the mentioned pieces of information 832, 834, 836, 838. However,there are embodiments in which the watermark information detectorprovides all mentioned information, wherein in this case an especiallypowerful overall system results.

The detector 800 further includes a watermark extractor 840 which isimplemented to receive the information representation 810 provided witha watermark. The watermark extractor 840 may further be implemented, forexample, to receive information 832 on reusable watermark information,as far as such information is provided by the watermark informationdetector 830. Further, the watermark extractor is, for example,implemented to receive embedding parameter information 852 from anembedding parameter determiner 850. The watermark extractor 840 is thus,for example, implemented, based on the information representation 810and depending on the information 832 and the embedding parameters 852,to extract at least one watermark and to provide correspondinginformation 820 on the extracted watermark. A synchronization of thewatermark extractor 840 may here, for example, take place through theinformation 832 on reusable watermark information if the information832, for example, relates to the presence of synchronizationinformation. In this case, for example, the watermark extractor 840 maybe instructed by the information 832 to extract two different watermarksusing the same synchronization information. If only one watermark is tobe extracted, for example the evaluation of the information 832 onreusable watermark information may be rendered unnecessary.

The embedding parameter determiner 850 may, for example, be implementedto determine the embedding parameters or detection parameters 852 basedon the information 832, 834, 836, 838. The embedding parameterdeterminer 850 may, of course, also evaluate only one of the mentionedpieces of information 832, 834, 836, 838 to determine the embeddingparameter 852. The embedding parameter determiner 850 is, for example,implemented to set the embedding parameters 852 such that a watermark isextracted from the information representation 810 which is actuallycontained in the information representation 810 or the presence of whichis indicated by at least one of the pieces of information 832, 834, 836,838. In other words, the embedding parameter determiner 852 may, forexample, be configured to prevent the attempt to extract a watermarkfrom the information representation 810 which is not contained in theinformation representation 810 or the presence of which is not indicatedby at least one of the pieces of information 832, 834, 836, 838. Thus,the embedding parameter determiner 852, based on the information 832,834, 836, 838 may control the watermark extractor 840 to extract theexisting watermarks pointedly. Thus, a substantial advantage regardingpower or advantage regarding speed may be achieved as compared toarrangements in which the information representation 810 is searched forany possible watermarks.

The detector 800 further includes, for example, a sequence control 860which is implemented, for example, to control an extraction of severalwatermarks. The sequence control 860 may, for example, be configured toterminate a watermark extraction from the information representation 810when all watermarks assumed to exist in the information representation810 have been identified. If the watermark information detector 830, forexample, provides information 838 on a number of watermarks embedded inthe information representation, then, for example, the sequence control860 may terminate a search for watermarks in the informationrepresentation if a number of watermarks has been identified which isthe same as the number described by the information 838. Although thewatermark information detector 830 may fail when providing theinformation 838, i.e. for example indicates the presence of lesswatermarks than are actually contained in the information representation810, the information 838 may still in many cases be regarded as areliable termination criterion for terminating a search for furtherwatermarks. By a corresponding sequence control terminating the searchfor watermarks depending on the information 838, apart from that anunnecessary and futile search for further watermarks may be avoided if,for example, all watermarks have already been extracted by the watermarkextractor 840.

It may be gathered from the above description that the detector 800offers substantial advantages as compared to conventional detectors. Byemploying reusable watermark information, a watermark extraction may beaccelerated. By employing the information provided by the watermarkinformation detector 830, apart from that the search for embeddedwatermarks may take place in a very systematic way, so that, forexample, only actually existing watermarks are extracted, and a futilesearch for non-existing watermarks is not necessitated.

Further advantages may, for example (optionally), be achieved when theembedding parameter determiner 850 is implemented to determine one orseveral embedding parameters using a one-way function. Here, forexample, the initial value may be given, and the information 838 on thenumber of embedded watermarks may be used in order to decide how oftenthe one-way function is to be applied to the initial value. If theinformation 838 indicates, for example, that three watermarks arecontained in the information representation 810, the one-way functionmay, for example, be applied to the initial value once to obtain theextraction parameters for the extraction of the first watermark.Extraction parameters for the extraction of the second watermark are,for example, obtained by applying the one-way function again to thevalue which was obtained by the first application of the one-wayfunction to the initial value. Thus, for example, a detection parameterfor the extraction of a subsequent watermark may be derived from thedetection parameters for the extraction of a preceding watermark, whichleads to an especially efficient realization of a mechanism fordetermining the detection parameters.

Apart from that, it is to be noted that the terms embedding parameterand detection parameter may be basically used synonymously regarding thedetection of a watermark. If, for example, embedding parameters areknown, using which a watermark was embedded into an informationrepresentation or into an information signal, in many cases it may beassumed that thus also detection parameters are known, using which thewatermark may be detected or extracted again. Determining or detectingof extraction parameters or detection parameters thus in many casescorresponds to the determination of embedding parameters.

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of an embedder for embedding a watermarkinto an audio signal. The embedder according to FIG. 9 is designated by900 in its entirety. The embedder 900 is implemented to embed watermarkinformation, i.e. for example a useful signal which is to be embeddedinto a watermark, via a data input 910. The embedder 900 furtherincludes a data stream generator 920 which is implemented to receive thewatermark useful information from the data input 910 and to generate,based thereupon, a parallel data stream, for example including m bits.The data stream generator 920 is, for example, implemented to apply aforward error correction (FEC) to the watermark useful information fromthe data input 910, to obtain an error-protected data streamrepresenting the watermark useful information. Further, the data streamgenerator 920 is, for example, implemented to apply a time interleavingto the error-protected data stream to thus obtain a time-interleaveddata stream. The time-interleaved data stream is less prone to certainerrors (e.g. bundling errors) than the mere error-protected data stream.Further, the data stream generator 920 is, for example, implemented tospread the interleaved data stream with a first spread code (spread codeC). For example, the data stream generator 920 may be implemented togenerate a plurality of bits from one bit of the time-interleaved datastream by applying a spread code. Thus, from the watermark usefulinformation from the data input 910 a once spread data stream results,as is, for example, known from telecommunications. In summary it may benoted that the once spread data stream, by applying a forward errorcorrection (FEC), by applying time interleaving and by applying a firstspread procedure using spread code C, results from the watermark usefulinformation from the data input 910. The individual bits of the oncespread data stream are then divided into a parallel data stream, forexample including m parallel data streams having associated bits (bit 1,bit 2, . . . , bit m−1, bit m). The mentioned bits are, for example,designated by 922 ₁-922 _(m). Each of the parallel bits 922 ₁-922 _(m)is then subjected to spreading. The corresponding spreading takes placein respective spreaders 930 ₁-930 _(m). In one of the spreaders 930₁-930 _(m), for example, depending on the value of the associated bit922 ₁-922 _(m), a first sequence (sequence 1) or a second sequence(sequence 2) is selected. The first sequence and the second sequencemay, for example, be complementary to each other. The sequences may, forexample, be a spread sequence M and the inverse of the spread sequenceM. Thus, for example, each bit 922 ₁-922 _(m) is spread by theassociated spreader 930 ₁-930 _(m) so that, for example, m spread bitsequences 932 ₁-932 _(m) result. The spread bit sequences 932 ₁-932 _(m)are then supplied to respective level setters 940 ₁-940 _(m) so thatcorresponding level-controlled and spread bit sequences 942 ₁-942 _(m)result. In one embodiment, a level of each level-controlled, spread bitsequence 941; is individually settable as compared to the level of theassociated non-level-controlled spread bit sequence 932; (i=1, . . . ,n). However, a level setting may also take place for a group of spreadbit sequences together.

The embedder 900 further includes a synthesis filter bank 950 which may,for example be implemented to execute an inverse Fourier transformation.The synthesis filter bank 950 is, for example, configured to receive thelevel-controlled and spread bits 942 ₁-942 _(m). Further, the synthesisfilter bank 950 may additionally be implemented to receive one orseveral (e.g. level-controlled) synchronization frequencies. Thesynthesis filter bank 950 is thus, for example, implemented to receivethe level-controlled bit sequences 942 ₁-942 _(m) and thelevel-controlled synchronization bit sequences, for example as frequencyrange input signals and, based thereupon, for example by forming aninverse Fourier transformation, generate a corresponding time signal952.

The embedder 900 further includes a summator 960 which is, for example,implemented to add the output signal 952 of the synthesis filter bank950 to a main audio signal 962 to obtain an audio signal or sum audiosignal 964 provided with a watermark (according to the watermark usefulinformation).

The embedder 900 further includes, for example, a psychoacoustic controlunit 970. The psychoacoustic control unit 970 is, for example,implemented to receive the main audio signal 962 and to generate levelcontrol signals 972 for the level setters 940 ₁-940 _(m). For thispurpose, the psychoacoustic unit 970 may, for example, process the mainaudio signal 962 to determine masking thresholds in the main audiosignal. In other words, the psychoacoustic unit 970 may, for example,determine according to a psychoacoustic model how loud a signal (e.g.the output signal 952 of the synthesis filter bank 950) added to themain audio signal 962 may be in different frequency bands, so that nosubstantial interference results in the sum audio signal 964. Thepsychoacoustic unit 970 is thus, for example, implemented to set thelevel setter 940 ₁-940 _(m) such that an interference of a hearingimpression in the sum audio signal 964 by the output signal 952 of thesynthesis filter bank 950 does not exceed a certain boundary. In otherwords, the output signal 952 of the synthesis filter bank 950 ought tobe embedded into the main audio signal 962 so that the signal 952 onlyslightly impairs a hearing impression caused by the sum audio signal 964as compared to a hearing impression caused by the main audio signal 962.

The embedder 900 further includes, for example, a synchronizationsequence generator 980 which is implemented to generate one or severalbit sequences, for example serving for a synchronization in a watermarkextraction from the sum signal 964. The synchronization sequencegenerator 980 thus generates one or several synchronization sequences982 which are, for example, in a level setter 990, subjected to a levelsetting (for example controlled by the psychoacoustic unit 970). Thus,level-controlled synchronization sequences result which, as explainedabove, may be supplied to the synthesis filter bank 950.

The embedder 900, as already indicated above, may be improved indifferent ways. For example, the synchronization sequence generator maybe controlled depending on whether a synchronization sequence is alreadypresent in the main audio signal 962. In other words, the main audiosignal 962 corresponds, for example, to the input informationrepresentation 110 according to FIG. 1, the input informationrepresentation 310 according to FIGS. 3 a-3 c, the input informationrepresentation 510 according to FIG. 5 or the input informationrepresentation 710 according to FIG. 7 a. If the embedder 900 is thusprovided with a corresponding watermark information detector which isimplemented to identify a synchronization signal present in the mainaudio signal 962, the synchronization sequence generator 980 may, forexample, be activated or deactivated depending on the presence of asynchronization signal in the main audio signal 962. If, in the mainaudio signal 962, a synchronization sequence already exists, noadditional synchronization sequence has to be embedded into the audiosignal. Further, apart from that, also the generation of the bit streams(e.g. the bit streams 922 ₁-922 _(m) and the bit streams derivedtherefrom) may be synchronized with the synchronization signal detectedin the main audio signal 962.

Further, parameters of the embedder 900, for example the used spreadsequences or the frequency bands used for the generation of the signal952, may be set depending on information describing a watermarkcontained in the main audio signal 962.

Apart from that, the selection of these parameters used by the embedder900 may be done using an embedding parameter, as was explained, forexample, with reference to FIGS. 5 and 7 a.

Regarding details as to how spreading a signal using different spreadcodes may be achieved, reference is, for example, made to the textbook“Digital Communication” by J. G. Proakis (third edition, Mc Graw-Hill,New York, 1995). Also adding a forward error correction and timeinterleaving are described in the above-mentioned book and further inthe conventional textbooks on telecommunications. Also the realizationof a synthesis filter bank, for example executing an inverse Fouriertransformation or a similar transformation, may be gathered from thetelecommunication textbooks.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of a watermark detector according to oneembodiment of the invention. The watermark detector according to FIG. 10designated by 1000 in its entirety. The watermark detector 1000 isimplemented to receive an audio signal provided with at least onewatermark at a signal input 1010 and to form, based thereupon, awatermark useful information 1020. The detector 1000 includes ananalysis filter bank 1030 which is implemented to receive the audiosignal provided with the watermark and divide the same into individualspectral bands. For example, the analysis filter bank 1030 may beimplemented to execute a Fourier transformation or a fast Fouriertransformation. At an output of the analysis filter bank, thus, forexample, individual signals for a plurality of bands are applied, someof which serve as useful signal frequency band signals 1032 ₁-1032 _(m)and some of which serve as synchronization frequency band signals 1034₁-1034 _(n).

The detector 1000 further includes a plurality of, for example, mdespreaders and normalizers 1040 _(i). An i-th despreader and normalizer1040 _(i) may, for example be implemented to correlate an associateduseful signal frequency band signal 1034 to a detection spread code (ingeneral: a detection code or extraction code) to thus reverse thespreading by the spreader 930 ₁-930 _(m). By the correlation with thecorresponding spread code, or detection code or extraction code, forexample one bit may be detected. The detection of the bit may, apartfrom that, also include normalizing, for example to reverse the levelsetting in the embedder-side level setters 940 ₁-940 _(m). At theoutputs of the despreaders and normalizers 1040 ₁-1040 _(m), for examplebit information 1042 ₁-1042 _(m) may be applied, for example carryingbit information normalized and despread by the despreader and normalizer1040 ₁-1040 _(m). The detector 1000 further includes a watermarkrecovery unit 1050, for example implemented to receive the bit signals1042 ₁-1042 _(m) and to recover based thereupon the watermark usefulinformation 1020. The watermark recovery unit 1050 may, for example,comprise a despreader which is, for example, implemented to reverse thespreading (Spreizen-C; spreading C) executed in the bit stream generator920 of the watermark embedder 900. The watermark recovery unit 1050 mayfurther comprise, for example, a de-interleaver which is implemented toreverse the time interleaving of bits executed in the bit streamgenerator 920. Further, the watermark recovery unit 1050, for example,includes an error corrector, or a forward error correction, which isimplemented to use the error correction information added by the bitstream generator 920 to thus obtain the watermark useful information1020 based on the bit signals 1042 ₁-1042 _(m), so that in the watermarkuseful information 1020 the effects of bit errors in the bit signals1042 ₁-1042 _(m) are reduced or eliminated.

The decoder 1000 further includes a synchronizer 1080 which isimplemented to receive the synchronization signals 1034 ₁-1034 _(n). Thesynchronizer includes, for example, one or several synchronizationcorrelators 1082 ₁-1082 _(n), wherein the synchronization correlators1082 ₁-1082 _(n), are implemented to receive respective synchronizationsignals 1034 ₁-1034 _(n) and correlate the same with a predeterminedsynchronization signal detection code. Thus, the synchronizationcorrelators 1082 ₁-1082 _(n) may detect the presence of asynchronization mark in the synchronization signals 1034 ₁-1034 _(n).The synchronization unit 1080 further includes, for example, apost-processing 1084 which is, for example, implemented to receive, fromthe synchronization correlators 1082 ₁-1082 _(n), information on whethera correlation between the synchronization signals 1034 ₁-1034 _(n) andpredetermined synchronization codes reaches or exceeds a threshold valueto provide, based on the information provided by the synchronizationcorrelators 1082 ₁-1082 _(n), an extracted synchronization signal 1086which indicates a position, regarding which a synchronization markoccurs in the synchronization signals 1034 ₁-1034 _(n).

The extracted synchronization signal 1086 is then, for example, suppliedto the despreaders and normalizers 1040 ₁-1040 _(m) to synchronize thefunction of the despreaders and normalizers 1040 ₁-1040 _(m) with thesynchronization information contained in the input signal 1010.

The decoder 1000 may be expanded in many ways to achieve one or severalof the above-described additional functionalities. For example, thedecoder 1000 may be supplemented by a detector which is implemented toidentify reusable information in the input signal 1010 and to providethe reusable identification for an extraction of several watermarks. Ifthe detector, for example, detects for the reusable information that inthe input signal 1010 synchronization information is contained which maybe used for a detection or extraction of several watermarks, thedetector may provide the corresponding information (e.g. thecorresponding synchronization information) for the detection of severalwatermarks. In this case, for example, a first set of despreaders andnormalizers may receive the reusable information (e.g. synchronizationinformation) to extract a first watermark. A second set of despreadersand normalizers may receive the reusable information to extract a secondwatermark. The first set of despreaders and normalizers is, for example,configured to detect a watermark which is embedded according to a firstembedding method or according to a first embedding code into the inputinformation 1010. The second set of despreaders and normalizers mayfurther, for example, be implemented to extract from the inputinformation 1010 a watermark which, according to a second embeddingmethod or using a second embedding code, is embedded into the inputinformation 1010. Thus, the reusable information may again be used and aone-time detection of the synchronization information for a detection ofseveral different watermarks is sufficient (e.g. embedded usingdifferent embedding methods or using different embedding codes).

Further, in the decoder 1000 different advantageous concepts may be usedto set extraction parameters used for the extraction of a watermark. Forexample, the detector 1000 may include a watermark information detector,for example corresponding to the watermark information detector 830 ofthe detector 800. Further, the detector 1000 may, for example, comprisean embedding parameter determiner, for example basically correspondingto the embedding parameter determiner 850 of the detector 800. Apartfrom that, the detector 1000 may also comprise a sequence control, forexample basically corresponding to the sequence control 860 of thedetector 800.

Thus, it may, for example, be determined by the embedding parameterdeterminer which detection code is used for despreading the signals 1032₁-1032 _(m). Alternatively or additionally, it may, for example, bedetermined by the embedding parameter determiner which detection code isused for despreading the signals 1042 ₁-1042 _(m) in the watermarkrecovery unit 1050. Alternatively or additionally, it may also bedetermined by the embedding parameter determiner which length thecorresponding detection codes for despreading the corresponding signalscomprise. Apart from that, also information regarding how the timeinterleaving in the watermark recovery unit 1050 may be reversed may bedetermined by the embedding parameter determiner. Apart from that, bythe embedding parameter determiner also different detection methods fordifferent watermarks may be determined. Apart from that, the embeddingparameter determiner may, for example, also provide information on whichfrequency bands are to be used for the extraction of the watermark.

In the following, briefly some details regarding an overall systemconsisting of the embedder 900 and the detector 1000 are described. Atthe input of the embedder 900, for example, PCM-encoded audio signals oraudio signals encoded according to a pulse code modulation are applied.This audio signal (for example the main audio signal 962) is analyzedusing a psychoacoustic method, for example by the psychoacoustic unit970. The psychoacoustic method, for example, guarantees inaudibility ofthe watermark to be embedded or sees to it that the watermark to beembedded is only perceived very weakly. Data to be transmitted, forexample applied to the data input 910, are added to the original audiosignal (or the main audio signal 962). The embedder 900 is, for example,not exclusively targeted to offline signal processing, i.e. forbroadcasting applications also a real-time embedding may take place.Only by internal block processing a certain delay may, for example, beexpected.

The input signal at the input 1010 of the extractor may, for example, berecorded by a microphone. This microphone of the extractor may, forexample, comprise a frequency response from 10 Hz to 10 kHz (typicallywith a frequency response of +/−5 dB). As a suitable sampling rate, 24kHz may, for example, be selected.

In the following, a basic functioning of the embedder 900 or theextractor 1000 is described. A useful band for watermark transmissionis, for example, delimited by the microphone of the extractor to afrequency range from 100 Hz to 10 kHz. A lower boundary frequency of theuseful band is, for example, designated by fmin. An upper boundaryfrequency is, for example, designated by fmax. In some embodiments, thefollowing applies: fmin<100 Hz and fmax>10 kHz. A frequency band from 0to fmax is, for example, divided into M subbands of equal width, and inthese subbands watermark partial signals are transmitted. A subbandhaving the number k for example extends from (k−1)*fmax/M to k*fmax/M,with k=1, 2, . . . , M. Due to an attenuation of the microphone at lowfrequencies, for example the subband having the number 1 (k=1) is notused for data transmission. A watermark may thus consist of M−1 subbandsignals. These subband signals are converted into the individualsubbands by means of a synthesis filter bank. A sampling rate of thesesubband signals at an input of the synthesis filter bank, for exampledesignated by fs1, is a fraction of a sampling rate at the output(fs1:=24/K kHz, K being an integer number).

As in one embodiment, in the watermark extractor 1000, the subbandsignals (i.e., e.g., the signals 1032 ₁-1032 _(m) or 1034 ₁-1034 _(m))are further processed at a sampling rate fs1, with regard to a favorablerealization of the watermark extractor it may be sensible to select fs1to be as small as possible. A bandwidth of the subbands may, forexample, be fmax/M, wherein fmax may, for example, be smaller than 10kHz. According to the sampling theorem, for example the conditionfs1≧fmax/M has to be fulfilled. Thus, for example for a quotient 24kHz/fs1 of the two sampling rates, the following applies:24 kHz/fs1≧M*12 kHz/fmax.

An efficient implementation of the synthesis filter bank 950 is, forexample, possible when the quotient 24 kHz/fs1 is an integer multiple ofM. As fmax=12 kHz is not an option, for example fmax=6 kHz is selected.Apart from that, M=16 is set, for example. A bandwidth of one singlesubband is thus 375 Hz, and from the request for a minimum sampling ratefor example fs1=750 Hz results.

The M−1 subband signals (for example the signals 942 ₁-942 _(m))together with the signals provided by the synchronization generator 980and the level setter 990 contain, for example, encoded information (forexample the useful information of the watermark) and known trainingsymbols which may, for example, be used on a receiver side, i.e., forexample, in the watermark extractor, for synchronization. In oneembodiment, in every subband data symbols may be transmitted withsynchronization symbols in a time multiplexing. In another embodiment,however, data symbols and synchronization symbols are transmitted inseparate subbands. There are thus r synchronization signals (e.g. withr=3) and M−1−r data signals. The corresponding subbands are thus alsoreferred to as data channels or synchronization channels.

An output signal of the synthesis filter bank 950 is, for example, theactual watermark (including synchronization information and watermarkuseful information), added to the audio signal (e.g. to the main audiosignal 962). For the watermark not to be audible, for example theindividual subband signals (for example the signals 932 ₁-932 _(m) or982) may still be changed in the amplitude (i.e., e.g., decreased). Thistime-variable weighting (for example by the level setters 940 ₁-940 _(m)or 980) depends, for example, on the respective audio signal (e.g. onthe main audio signal 962) and on the psychoacoustic perception of aperson. In this connection, reference is made to psychoacousticweighting.

FIG. 9 shows, for example, the basic setup of the watermark embedder.The encoded bits (0 and 1) (for example represented by the bit signals922 ₁-922 _(m)) are represented, for example, by two orthogonal spreadsequences of the length Spreizen-M (spreading-M) (e.g. spreading-M=32).These spread sequences consist, for example, of the symbols +1 or −1.Thus, the subband data signals before a psychoacoustic weighting (PAW)are BPSK signals (each with a power of 1). Also the synchronizationsignals before the psychoacoustic weighting are, for example, BPSKsignals (each power 1).

In the following, briefly the mechanisms each regarding the forwarderror correction (FEC), the spreading (spreading-M) and thesynchronization frequencies are described. For details, reference ismade to the textbook “Digital Communications” by J. G. Proakis (3rdEdition, Mc Graw-Hill, New York, 1995).

The bit stream generator 920 consists, for example, of three parts, orimplements three processing steps:

1. convolution encoder or turbo encoder having the code rate R

2. spreading by the factor Spreizen C (spreading-C)

3. time interleaver (interleaver).

The encoder (convolution encoder or turbo encoder) for example generatesn>k encoded bits from k information bits. A code rate is, for example,defined as a quotient R=kin. If, for example, the case k=1 isconsidered, it is assumed that 1<n≦5 applies.

Lower code rates may, for example, be generated by a spreading of theencoded bits with a bit sequence of the length spreading-C. Here, forexample, each code bit of the value 1 is replaced by the bit sequencesc[k], and each code bit of the value 0 is replaced by the negated bitsequence sc_(not)[k] (k=0, 1, . . . , spreading-C−1). An effective coderate is then, for example, R/spreading-C. For example, for R=⅓ andspreading-C=12 an effective code rate of 1/36 results. In this numberexample, an information bit is represented by 36 code bits. By theinterleaver, the sequence of the code bits is changed in a defined way.Using an inverse operation, the reversal of the interleaving(de-interleaver), the bits in the receiver (watermark extractor) areagain brought into the correct order.

In the following, briefly the spreading “Spreizen-M” (spreading-M) isdescribed. In one embodiment, the encoded bits (0 or 1) coming from thebit stream generator 920 or from the forward error correction (FEC) arerepresented by two orthogonal spread sequences of the length spreading-M(e.g. spreading-M=32). These spread sequences consist of the symbols +1or −1. Thus, for example the subband data signals before thepsychoacoustic weighting are BPSK signals (each with the power of 1).

For example, s0[k] or s1[k] (k=0, 1, . . . , spreading-M−1) are thespread sequences represented by a zero or a one, respectively.Orthogonality here means that the inner product <s0, s1>=0.

In the following, some more details regarding the synchronizationsequences are described, as they are provided by the synchronizationsequence generator 980, and as they are, for example, evaluated by thesynchronization unit 1080. For a decoding of the data on the receiverside (for example in the watermark extractor) it is, for example,advantageous when points in times are known at which a code word beings.These points in time may, for example, be determined by a transmissionof known sequences and by a correlation to these sequences in thereceiver. These sequences are, for example, transmitted on thesynchronization channels. Here, for example, the following procedure maybe chosen:

A sequence p[k] (k=0, 1, . . . , L−1) is generated by L BPSK symbolswith good autocorrelation characteristics. By a periodic repetition ofp[k], it results for the signal u[n]: =p[n modulo L] (n=0, 1, . . . ).In the embodiment, on all synchronization channels the same signal u[n]is transmitted.

In the following, briefly some details regarding the psychoacousticweighting are described. It is, for example, enabled by a spread bandmodulation to reduce the average signal power by spectral spreading.Additionally the data signal is evaluated and modified according topsychoacoustic principles. Thereby, for example, the inaudibility of thesignal added to the original audio signal 962 is guaranteed. Thisinaudibility of the watermark information in the combined audio signal964 is, for example, guaranteed by the use of the level setters 940₁-940 _(m) and 990 under the control of the psychoacoustic unit 970, asalready explained briefly above. A detailed description is omitted here,as the same is not essential for understanding the present invention.

In the following, some details regarding the watermark detector orwatermark extractor 1000 are described. The watermark-including audiosignal, for example generated by the embedder 900, may, for example, bedistributed conventionally via existing transmission channels (e.g. viabroadcasting or also via the internet) and is, for example, finallysupplied to the watermark detector or watermark extractor 1000.

An input signal at the input 1010 of the detector 1000 includes, forexample, a sum signal transmitted via the audio channel (for example thecombined audio signal 964) including an audio signal and a watermark.

By the analysis filter bank 1030 the input signal is, for example,divided by the input 1010 into M subband signals at a sampling rate of,for example, 12/M kHz. The signals in the unused subbands (e.g. subbandsNos. 17-32) are, for example, not calculated. The subband signal No. 1is, for example, calculated but not evaluated, however, as it does notcarry any information. The remaining M−1 subband signals, for example,are divided into M−1−r data signals, for example, and r synchronizationsignals and subsequently further processed.

From the synchronization signals (for example from the signals 1034₁-1034 _(m)) points in time are determined, for example, by means ofcorrelation, at which the data signals (for example the signals 1032₁-1032 _(m)) are despread (Entspreizen-M; despreading-M).

Output signals of the blocks 1040 ₁-1040 _(m) designated bydespreading-M are, for example, logarithmic likelihood ratios (LLR),i.e. soft bits. A positive logarithmic likelihood ratio (LLR) indicatesone bit is a logical one, and a negative logarithmic likelihood ratio(LLR) indicates, for example, that this is a logical zero. The higherthe amount of a logarithmic likelihood ratio, for example, the morereliable the value.

The logarithmic likelihood ratios are, for example, further processed inthe watermark recovery unit 1050 or in a forward error correction (FEC).

In the following, reference is briefly made to the characteristics ofthe received subband signals (for example the signals 1032 ₁-1032 _(m)and 1034 ₁-1034 _(m)). Here, x_(k)[n] (k=1, 2, . . . , M) are thesubband signals in the watermark embedder after spreading (spreading-M)and before psychoacoustic weighting. y_(k)[n] (k=1, 2, . . . , M) arethe output signals of the analysis filter bank. The signals x_(k)[n] areinterfered with by three effects:

-   -   psychoacoustic weighting    -   audio signal    -   audio channel.

For the received signals (for example received by the decoder 1000)generally, for example, the following applies:y _(k) [n]=c _(k) [n]*x _(k) [n−D]+r _(k) [n](k=1, 2, . . . , M).

Here, c_(k)[n] is a (time-dependent) channel coefficient and r_(k)[n] isadditive noise. The effects of distortions are, for example,characterized by an average signal-to-noise ratio per channel, or by amean signal/noise ratio averaged across all channels.

A useful signal from the point of view of telecommunications is, forexample, the signal x_(k)[n-D]. The rest are noise-type interferences.The ratio of effective power C to interference power N, i.e. C/N,generally expressed in decibel, is, for example, the signal/noise ratio.

In the following, a synchronization in the detection of a watermark or aprocessing of synchronization signals (for example a processing of thesynchronization signals 1034 ₁-1034 _(m)) is briefly described. In oneembodiment, a transmitted synchronization sequence p[k] (k=0, 1, . . . ,L−1) is known. In the following, x[n] refers to the input signal andy[n] to the output signal of a correlator for synchronization. Theoutput signal is, for example, calculated by a filtering of the inputsignal with an FIR filter of an impulse response p[L−1−n] (n=0, 1, . . ., L−1), i.e. according to the regulation

${y\lbrack n\rbrack} = {\sum\limits_{k = 0}^{L - 1}{{p\lbrack {L - 1 - k} \rbrack}{{x\lbrack {n - k} \rbrack}.}}}$

Output signals of the individual correlators are, for example combined(“post processing”) to determine the position of a correlation peak.From the location of the correlation peak, for example, the positions ofthe synchronization sequence p[k] within the synchronization signals maybe determined. From these positions, for example, the starting times fordespreading may be derived (entSpreizen-M; despreading-M). Thisinformation (for example information 1086) is passed on from thesynchronization unit 1080 to the despreading-M blocks 1040 ₁-1040 _(m).

In the following, the procedure for despreading-M is described. Aprocessing unit designated by despreading-M (for example one of theprocessing units 1040 ₁-1040 _(m)), from a block of input valuesSpreizen-M (spreading-M), calculates exactly one output value (forexample in the form of a logarithmic likelihood ratio LLR). This isdescribed in the following.

In the following, for example, x[n] (n=0, 1, . . . , spreading-M) arethe samples of a block of the length spreading-M at an input ofdespreading-M (1040₁-1040 _(m)). In one embodiment, first of all thepower of the block is normalized to one. In this respect, for example, asignal is formed

${y\lbrack n\rbrack} = {{{{x\lbrack n\rbrack}/{rms}_{x}}\mspace{14mu}{mit}\mspace{14mu}{rms}_{x}}:={\sqrt{\frac{1}{{Spreizen}\text{-}M}{\sum\limits_{n = 0}^{{{Spreizen}\text{-}M} - 1}{x\lbrack n\rbrack}^{2}}}.}}$

The signal y[n] is, for example, despread using a difference s10[n]:=s1[n]−s0[n] of the two spread sequences s1[n] and s0[n]. The result is,for example, a logarithmic likelihood ratio LLR:

${LLR} = {\frac{1}{{Spreizen}\text{-}M}{\sum\limits_{n = 0}^{{{Spreizen}\text{-}M} - 1}{s\;{10\lbrack n\rbrack}{{y\lbrack n\rbrack}.}}}}$

Due to an orthogonality of the spread sequences (<s0, s1>=0), forexample a logarithmic likelihood ratio LLR=1 results for y[n]=s1[n] anda logarithmic likelihood ratio LLR=−1 results for y[n]−s0[n].

In the following, details with respect to a forward error correction orto a watermark recovery are described. The processes described in thefollowing may, for example, be executed in the watermark recovery unit1050. A forward error correction (FEC) in the watermark extractor 1000includes, for example, three parts or processing steps:

1. reversing time interleaving (for example by a so-calledde-interleaver)

2. despreading by the factor spreading-C (also referred to as“despreading-C”); and

3. forward error correction decoding, for example in an FEC decoder.

In the following, details with respect to reversing time interleavingare described. The de-interleaver, for example, reverses a changeexecuted in the transmitter (or embedder) of a sequence of bits by acorresponding (for example reversed) change of the sequence of thelogarithmic likelihood ratio (LLR).

In the following, despreading (Entspreizen-C; despreading-C) isdescribed. A despreading by the factor spreading-C may, for example, beexecuted in the way described in the following. It is to be noted herethat a spread sequence used in the watermark embedder was referred toabove by sc[k] (k=0, 1, . . . , spreading-C−1). This sequence consistsof zeros and ones. From sc[k], for example according to the regulationsc1[k]:=2*sc[k]−1a sequence sc1[k] only consisting of the numbers 1 and −1 is generated.Here, for example, the number sc[k]=0 is mapped into the numbersc1[k]=−1, and the number sc[k]=1 is mapped into the number sc1[k]=1.Using the spread sequence sc1[k] for example, the logarithmic likelihoodratios are despread analog to the procedure described with reference todespreading-M.

In the following x_(LLR)[n] (n=0, 1, . . . , spreading-C) are thesamples of a block of logarithmic likelihood ratios (LLR) at the inputof despreading-C. First of all, for example, a power of a block isnormalized to 1. In this respect, for example, the following signal isformed

${y_{LLR}\lbrack n\rbrack} = {{{{x_{LLR}\lbrack n\rbrack}/{rms}_{x}}\mspace{14mu}{mit}\mspace{14mu}{rms}_{x}}:={\sqrt{\frac{1}{{Spreizen}\text{-}C}{\sum\limits_{n = 0}^{{{Spreizen}\text{-}C} - 1}{x_{LLR}\lbrack n\rbrack}^{2}}}.}}$

From the sequence y_(LLR)[n], for example using the spread sequencesc1[k], the despread logarithmic likelihood ratios are obtained

${{LLR}\; 2} = {\frac{1}{{Spreizen}\text{-}C}{\sum\limits_{n = 0}^{{{Spreizen}\text{-}C} - 1}{s\; c\;{1\lbrack n\rbrack}{{y_{LLR}\lbrack n\rbrack}.}}}}$

These despread logarithmic likelihood ratios are, for example, shiftedinto the forward error correction decoder (FEC decoder) and decodedthere.

In the following, details with respect to the forward error correctiondecoder (FEC decoder) are described.

For decoding the logarithmic likelihood ratios (LLR) afterdespreading-C, for example a forward error correction decoder may beused. For example, the following decoders comprising low complexity andhigh efficiency are an option:

-   -   turbo decoder (for example with a short code word length);    -   Viterbi decoder, for example in connection with a Reed-Solomon        decoder (here, for example, in a transmitter or embedder a        Reed-Solomon code is put downstream to the convolution code); or    -   sequential decoder with a high inflow length (e.g. K=41; for        details, see textbook “Digital Communications” by J. G.        Proakis).

The logarithmic likelihood ratios after despreading-M and despreading-C,for example with the code rate R (e.g. R=⅓) represent encodedinformation bits. The forward error correction decoder provides back,for example, at its output the decoded information bits. To decode theinformation bits with an error likelihood which is as low as possible,it is desirable for the ratio Eb/N0 to be sufficiently high. Here, Ebdesignates an energy per information bit and N0 a one-sided noise powerdensity. The following applies, for example:Eb/N0/dB=C/N/dB+10*log 10(Spreizen-M*Spreizen-C/R).

Here, C/N is an average signal/noise ratio across all data channels atan output of the analysis filter bank 1030, i.e. before despreading-M.The second addend is, for example, the sum of the spreading gain(spreading-M) and the encoding gain (Spreizen-C/R; spreading-C/R). Forexample, for spreading-M=32, spreading-C=12 and R=⅓, the value of Eb/N0is above C/N by 30.6 dB.

In the mentioned textbook by Proakis, for example using simulationresults for a sequential decoder, it was indicated that a bit errorlikelihood P_(b) takes the value Pb=1e−6, for example, for the followingvalues of Eb/N0:

-   -   R=⅓: Eb/N0=2.5 dB;    -   R=½: Eb/N0=3 dB.

For the turbo decoder the same boundary values apply.

If, for example, a reserve of 2-3 dB is added to the above-mentionedvalues of Eb/N0 to compensate interfering noise, there is, for example,a request for Eb/N0 to be 5 dB, for example. Referring to theabove-mentioned number values for spreading-M, spreading-C and R, forexample C/N before despreading-M may be −25 dB.

It may be seen from the above-mentioned description that, in particularby spreading the watermark useful data in embedding and by despreadingthe watermark useful data in decoding, it may be achieved that thewatermark information is, for example, embedded in an audio signal suchthat the audio signal, by the embedding of the watermark usefulinformation, is only changed in an inaudible or only slightly audibleway. By the use of different spread codes it may further be enabled toembed different watermarks into the same audio signal (or into anotherinformation representation). A reliable decoding or extraction of thewatermark necessitates, however, on the side of the decoder orextractor, the despreading (both despreading-M and also despreading-C)to take place using suitable spread codes which are adapted at theembedder-side spread codes or which correspond to the embedder-sidespread codes. With reference to the consideration above, it is obviousthat the above-described mechanisms for setting extraction parameters,which are, for example, suitable for the selection of spread codes usedfor the extraction, may be used advantageously to enable despreading.

In the following, some aspects of the present invention are summarized.The concept described within the scope of the present description may,for example, be used for watermark embedding into carrier data and forthe extraction, for example, of embedded watermark data.

In conventional watermark embedding, the watermark embedding takesplace, for example, without examining a carrier signal (e.g. an audiosignal or an image signal) with respect to existing watermarks. In someembodiments, a watermark has the characteristic of being able to containseveral independent watermarks without an influence occurring. Further,it is desirable in some conventional concepts for a detector to knowabout the embedding information of the different embedders.

If it is desired for a repeated embedding of watermarks to be possible,special requirements exist. For example, each further inserted watermarkmay not make already existing watermarks unusable. Further, a detector,or watermark detector, has to be able to differentiate the watermarks ofdifferent embedders.

From the relevant expert publications, different watermark methods areknown. The following watermark methods, for example, can be used inconventional embedders or extractors and also in the inventive embeddersor extractors:

-   -   narrow band method    -   spread band method    -   echo hiding    -   multi-carrier method    -   phase modification.

In conventional methods, several disadvantages can arise. For example,conventionally, every embedder adds information (or watermarkinformation) independently to an information representation (for exampleto an audio signal). Hence, conventionally, a detector or watermarkdetector has to perform the complete detection method for everyembedder. Further, conventionally, a detector needs to have exactinformation on the embedder that enables him to detect the watermark.For example, when using a spread band method, a conventional detectornecessitates the spread sequence used by the embedder.

Hence, in a conventional detector, a detection complexity and memoryrequirements increase with each watermark since a conventional detectorattempts, for example, one extraction for every possible embedder.Hence, conventionally, it is not possible that a number of possibleembedders is, for example, unlimited (which does not necessarily meanthat an unlimited number of watermarks can exist in a carrier signal).Therefore, conventionally, the embedders are frequently limited. If thenumber of possible embedders is very high, conventionally, all embedderswill have to be sought for, even when finally only one watermark iscontained (for example in the examined information representation).

Subsequently added embedders are, for example, not known to aconventional extractor and, for example, an update of the detectors isneeded when an embedder is subsequently added.

In the following, several aspects of the present invention will besummarized. According to several embodiments of the invention, thedetector or watermark detector can share all information and detectionmethods necessitated for all watermarks as far as possible, whichreduces complexity, memory requirements, time requirements, and/orenergy requirements. In several embodiments, redundant information doesnot have to be superimposed in the carrier signal (e.g. the audiosignal).

Additionally, in several embodiments, the detector or watermark detectorhas information on the embedders and can, for example, limit a searchfor watermarks to the significant detection steps.

In several embodiments, detection information (or detection parameters)can be calculated dynamically by defined derivation steps of theembedder information. Thus, in several embodiments, newly addedembedders do not necessitate a subsequent change of the detectorinformation.

In the following, several aspects of different embodiments will bedescribed. The different aspects can be combined within a detector,within an extractor or within an overall system including a detector andan extractor.

-   1. According to one aspect, prior to every embedding process (or at    least prior to several embedding processes), a carrier signal (e.g.    an audio signal or an image signal or a video signal or a computer    program signal, or generally an information representation) is    examined for possibly existing watermarks. If an already existing    watermark is detected, then, for example, the new watermarks will be    inserted, depending on the original watermark, in a manner that    enables the detector to use common computing operations for all    watermarks. For example, a synchronization sequence (generally:    synchronization information) is not re-embedded, but an existing    synchronization sequence (or synchronization information) is used    and only the actual data (for example the watermark payload data)    are embedded (for example synchronously to the existing sequence or    synchronization sequence).    -   Hence, for example, an extractor has to search for only a single        synchronization sequence (or synchronization information) that        is the same (or the only one) for all contained watermarks. At        the same time, this synchronization sequence can, for example,        be an indication for existing watermarks for subsequent        embedders.-   2. According to one aspect, embedder information is added with a    method that is the same for every embedder. In other words, at least    two different embedders use the same method for embedding embedder    information. The embedder information can, for example, be    generation information. The generation information can describe, for    example, a number of previous watermarks. Hence, for example, a    first embedder can indicate that it has added the first watermark. A    second embedder can indicate, for example, that now two watermarks    are contained. According to one aspect, this information (i.e. for    example the generation information) can be detected independent of    the embedder.-   3. According to one aspect, the data (or the watermark payload data    or watermark payload information) are now added by the embedder (for    example to the carrier signal), so that the watermarks do not (or    only slightly) influence each other. For that, different methods can    be used. For example, a CDMA method or a code multiplex multiple    access method) can be used. In a respective spread method, for    example, every embedder (of a plurality of embedders) uses its own    spread sequence, which is orthogonal to the sequences or spread    sequences of other embedders. The data share, for example (but not    necessarily), a common frequency domain and also a common time    domain.    -   Alternatively (or additionally), embedding can be performed in        time multiplex, frequency multiplex or by using a combination of        the same. Since the sequences overlap, for example when using        the CDMA method, an overall embedded signal energy will increase        with every further watermark. Thereby, for example, the        watermark energy can increase to such an extent that detection        of the watermark becomes more likely. According to one aspect,        every watermark can be embedded in a different frequency band or        in a different time slot to avoid an overlay. Here, it is        advantageous when every embedder knows what watermarks are        already contained, so that no overlay takes place (or only takes        place to an acceptable extent). In other words, here, the        above-stated generation information is not only helpful for the        detector, but for every further embedder.    -   If multiple embedding of watermarks is to take place, further        embedders will start again, for example, at point 1.-   4. In several embodiments, the detector extracts, similar to every    further embedder, the embedder information (that comprises, for    example, information on the embedding parameters used by the    embedder or the detection parameters to be used by the detector).    According to one aspect, a detector can read out the generation    information of all embedders in the same manner with the same method    or the same spread sequence.    -   Information that can be used for all watermarks (also referred        to as reusable information) can, for example, also be obtained        from the carrier signal. For example, a synchronization signal        valid for all watermarks (or at least for a plurality of        watermarks) can be obtained from the carrier signal. Further,        based on the embedder information, contained watermarks can be        specifically searched for (e.g. by the detector).-   5. Since a conventional detector does not have any information on    how many watermarks are contained in the carrier signal, the    detector would have to search for all possible embedder information.    In order to solve this problem, this number (i.e. the number of    possible watermarks) can, for example, be limited in advance.    According to one aspect of the invention, however, a certain time    slot (or another resource) can be left unoccupied, for example    following the synchronization sequence, where every embedder, for    example, is allowed to insert generation information.    -   According to one aspect, it is advantageous that the embedding        method (for several embedders) is the same. For example, every        embedder of generation information can use the same        synchronization band. Further, for example, every embedder of        generation information can use the same spread sequence or the        same embedding method. Therefore, for example, an extractor can        read out the generation information of all embedders (or at        least a plurality of embedders) with the same method (or the        same spread sequence) in the same manner without increasing the        extraction complexity. Therefore, it is advantageous when the        embedding method for the generation information is identical for        all embedders.    -   Based on the knowledge of the generation information (i.e. the        number of watermarks) an extractor knows, for example, exactly        how many watermarks it has to search for. A (conventionally        frequently occurring) useless search for non-existing watermarks        is hence unnecessary.

According to a further aspect, so-called derivation functions can beused for embedder information. Details regarding this will be summarizedbelow. In a spread band method, an embedder embeds this sequence (forexample a spread sequence) into the carrier signal. Therefore, it isadvantageous that the sequence, or the spread sequence, is known to thedetector so that the same can detect the sequence, or spread sequence,existing in the carrier signal and so that the detector can henceextract the watermark information contained in the carrier signal.Therefore, every subsequently added embedder (conventionally) causes anupdate of the extractors. In other watermark methods, it is alsosometimes necessitated that the detector knows certain information fromthe embedder for detection.

This requirement can, for example, be avoided when the statedinformation (in this example the spread sequences) is calculated from afixed data amount (e.g. from an initial value) by means of anappropriate derivation function. A new embedder can, for example, applythe derivation function to the initial value as often as there arealready allocated embedders and therefore also spread sequences.

In several cases, the value calculated in this manner (i.e. the valuecalculated from the initial value by applying the derivation functiononce or several times) cannot be used directly as a spread sequence.Hence, in a spread sequence, several requirements exist, e.g. withregard to the correlation characteristics and the spectrum. In severalembodiments, the value calculated by applying the derivation function tothe initial value can also serve as “seed” for generating the actualspread sequence. In other watermark methods (that, for example, do notuse a spread sequence), the value obtained by applying the derivationfunction to the initial value once or several times can also serve as abase for a respective data modulation.

According to a further aspect, a further characteristic results by usingso-called one-way functions for the derivation. Thus, for example, onlythe hierarchically lower value can be calculated from a derived value.Thereby, for example, access rights can be granted to the extractor. Ifa detector has knowledge, for example, of the “uppermost” initial value,it will then be able to extract all watermarks. A detector that knows,for example, only the value that was derivated twice as the initialvalue, cannot generate the two sequences (lying above) and hence itcannot read out the watermarks of two embedders. If, however, instead ofa one-way function a normal derivation function (for example convertiblewith little computing effort) is used as the derivation function, adirect allocation of access rights will not be possible. However, thereis the possibility of being able to obtain the sequence of an almostarbitrary amount of embedding parameter values or detection parametervalues.

In the following, several improvements and advantages in relation to theprior art will be described, which can be obtained according to severalembodiments of the present invention.

According to several embodiments described within the scope of thepresent invention, it is possible to embed several watermarks into acarrier signal or to read out several watermarks from a carrier signal.Thereby, for example, detection complexity can be reduced or minimizedwith respect to independent detection. According to several embodimentsof the invention, memory requirements and/or energy requirements in adetection of watermarks are reduced.

In several embodiments of the invention it is possible to embed severalwatermarks into a carrier signal and to read them out in such a mannerthat only the watermarks are read out that are actually contained orthat are free to be accessed. In several embodiments, useless detectionefforts can be omitted.

In several embodiments, a detector does not have to know all embedderinformation necessitated for detection. Rather, in several embodiments,subsequently added embedders can be detected without having to updatethe detector.

Further, in several embodiments, a detector (or even every detector) canimplicitly obtain access rights for these watermarks.

In the following, a further embodiment of the invention will bedescribed. First, the embedding will be described. According to anembodiment, the embedder searches, for example, for existing watermarksin the carrier signal by searching for a synchronization sequence. Sincethe embedder (for example in the first embedding of a watermark into acarrier signal) is the first embedder, no such sequence is found.Therefore, the embedder, or the first embedder, inserts thesynchronization sequence. Additionally, the embedder, or first embedder,can signalize that it is the first embedder. Thereby, the first embeddercan also add the data (for example the signalization data indicatingthat it is the first embedder) (for example to the carrier signal). Forexample, the first embedder can add the data in an unoccupied time slotafter the synchronization sequence or in a separate band in parallel tothe synchronization sequence. In one embodiment, the data are added inparallel to the synchronization sequence.

In the following, a possible procedure in performing further embeddingsis described. In this case, the embedder can again, for example, searchfor the known synchronization sequence. The known synchronizationsequence can, moreover, be considered as an indication of the existenceof watermarks. If the embedder finds the known synchronization sequence(for example during a further embedding), it can add, for example aftersignalizing the first embedder, information indicating that it is thesecond embedder. The respective data can again be added in parallel tothe synchronization sequence. Further, the data can also be added to thecarrier signal in a different manner, e.g. in a time slot following thesynchronization sequence.

In the following, an exemplary procedure for detection will bedescribed. A detector can search, for example, for the embedderinformation and finds (for example after the above-described embeddings)the synchronization signal and the signalizations from the first andsecond embedders. Hence, the detector derives, for example, theextraction parameters necessitated for detecting the watermark. Further,the detector extracts, for example, exactly these two watermark data.Since, for example, both watermarks (i.e. for example the watermarkembedded by the first embedder and the watermark embedded by thefurther, or second, embedder) are based on the same synchronizationsignal, the synchronization is, for example, performed only once for allwatermarks. Further, no further watermarks need to be searched for.

In summary, it is to be stated that the present invention according toseveral aspects provides an apparatus and a method for multiplewatermark embedding and watermark extraction. Several embodiments of theinvention solve the object to enable multiple watermark embedding intocarrier data, or a carrier signal, such that detection with limitedcomplexity or with lower complexity than with conventional arrangementsis possible.

The respective concept can be used advantageously, since it is desiredor even necessitated for the different cases of application to embed notonly one single watermark but several independent watermarks. Moreover,most watermark methods are designed for embedding one watermark, evenwhen the respective method basically allows multiple embedding.

Conventionally, detection complexity and memory requirements increaseuniformly with a number of possible watermarks. Further, conventionally,a detector usually has no information on how many and what watermarksactually exist in carrier signals. Hence, it has to attempt, forexample, to detect all possible watermarks.

According to one aspect of the embodiments described in the presentspecification, the carrier signal is examined for possibly existingwatermarks prior to every embedding process. If an already existingwatermark is detected, the new watermarks will be inserted independentof the original watermark in a manner enabling the detector to usecommon methods for all watermarks equally.

According to a further aspect of several of the embodiments describedherein, embedding of additional information providing both the extractorwith information on the original embedders and providing a furtherembedder with information on every further (or previous) embeddingprocess, can take place. An extraction method for this information can,for example, be independent of the embedder.

According to a further aspect of several of the embodiments describedherein, the embedder-dependent information is not selected arbitrarilybut derived from each other in a defined manner.

In the following, several methods according to different embodiments ofthe invention will be described.

FIG. 11 shows a flow diagram of a method of embedding a watermark to beembedded into an information representation. The method according toFIG. 11 is indicated by 1100 in its entirety. In a first step 1110, themethod 1100 comprises detecting watermark information already containedin the information representation. Further, in the second step 1120, themethod 1100 comprises providing the information representation with thewatermark depending on the watermark information detected in theinformation representation, to obtain an information representationprovided with the watermark to be embedded.

FIG. 12 shows a flow diagram of a method of detecting at least twowatermarks in an information representation provided with watermarks.The method according to FIG. 12 is indicated by 1200 in its entirety. Ina first step 1210, the method 1200 comprises identifying reusablewatermark information in the information representation provided with awatermark. Further, in a second step 1220, the method 1210 comprisesextracting a first watermark from the information representation usingthe reusable watermark information. Further, in a third step 1230, themethod 1200 comprises extracting a second watermark from the informationrepresentation using the reusable watermark information.

Further, the second step 1220 and the third step 1230 can be performedone after the other. Alternatively, the second step 1220 and the thirdstep 1230 can also be performed in parallel, simultaneously or at leastin a temporally overlapping manner.

FIG. 13 shows a graphical illustration of a method of embedding awatermark to be embedded into an input information representation. Themethod according to FIG. 13 is indicated by 1300 in its entirety. Themethod 1300 comprises providing 1310 the input informationrepresentation with a watermark and additional information to be addedto obtain an information representation provided with the watermark andthe additional information to be added. The additional information to beadded comprises descriptive information with regard to the embedding ofat least one watermark into the input information representation.

FIG. 14 shows a flow diagram of a method of detecting at least onewatermark in an input information representation. The method accordingto FIG. 14 is indicated by 1400 in its entirety. In a first step 1410,the method 1400 comprises extracting embedding information includingdescriptive information with regard to the embedding of at least onewatermark into the information representation, from the informationrepresentation. Further, in a second step 1420, the method 1400comprises extracting one or several watermarks contained in the inputinformation representation depending on the embedding information.

FIG. 15 shows a flow diagram of a method of embedding a watermark intoan information representation. The method according to FIG. 15 isindicated by 1500 in its entirety. In a first step 1510, the method 1500comprises applying a derivation function, once or several times, to aninitial value to obtain an embedding parameter for embedding thewatermark into the information representation. Further, in a second step1520, the method 1500 comprises providing the information representationwith the watermark using the embedding parameter.

FIG. 16 shows a flow diagram of a method of detecting at least onewatermark in the information representation provided with the watermark.The method according to FIG. 16 is indicated by 1600 in its entirety. Ina first step 1610, the method 1600 comprises applying a derivationfunction, once or several times, to an initial value to obtain adetection parameter for detecting the watermark in the informationrepresentation. Further, in a second step 1620, the method 1600comprises extracting the watermark from the information representationusing the detection parameter.

The methods 1200-1600 according to FIGS. 12-16 can further besupplemented by all those steps and/or features discussed within thepresent description also with regard to the described apparatuses.Further, the method illustrated within the present description may alsobe realized by a computer program.

In other words, the inventive apparatus and the inventive method can beimplemented in hardware or in software. Implementation can be made on adigital memory medium, for example a disc, a CD, a DVD, an ROM, a PROM,an EPROM, an EEPROM or a FLASH memory with electronically readablecontrol signals that can cooperate with a programmable computer systemsuch that the respective method is performed.

Generally, the present invention consists therefore also of a computerprogram product with a program code stored on a machine-readable carrierfor performing the inventive method when the computer program productruns on a computer. In other words, the invention can be realized as acomputer program with a program code for performing the inventive methodwhen the computer program runs on a computer.

An embodiment of the invention provides an embedder 500; 700 forembedding a watermark to be embedded into an input informationrepresentation 510; 710, comprising: an embedding parameter determiner520; 750 that is implemented to apply a derivation function to aninitial value, once or several times, to obtain an embedding parameterfor embedding the watermark to be embedded into the input informationrepresentation; and a watermark adder that is implemented to provide theinput information representation with the watermark to be embedded usingthe embedding parameter, wherein the embedder is implemented to selecthow many times the derivation function is to be applied to the initialvalue to obtain the embedding parameter; wherein the embedding parameterdeterminer 520; 750 is implemented to receive an index parameter and todetermine, depending on the index parameter, how many times thederivation function is to be applied to the predetermined initial valueto obtain the embedding parameter 526; 752; and wherein the embeddercomprises a watermark information detector 730 that is implemented todetect watermark information already contained in the input informationrepresentation 510; 710, to obtain information 738 on a number ofwatermarks already contained in the input information representation,and wherein the watermark information detector is implemented to provideone or several index parameters for the embedding parameter determiner,based on the information 738 on the number of watermarks alreadycontained in the input information representation 510; 710.

In an embodiment of the embedder 500; 700, the derivation function is acryptographic one-way function.

In an embodiment of the embedder 500; 700, the embedder is implementedto process, as the input information representation, an audio signalrepresenting audio information, an image signal representing imageinformation, a text signal representing a text, or a computer programsignal representing a computer program.

In an embodiment of the embedder 500; 700, the embedder comprises anelectronic or photonic circuit realizing a subfunction of the embedder.

In an embodiment of the embedder 500; 700, the watermark adder 530; 740is implemented to add encoded information to the input informationrepresentation 510; 710 as a watermark.

In an embodiment of the embedder 500; 700, the watermark embedder 530;740 is implemented to change information values of the input informationrepresentation 510; 710 to add the watermark to the input informationrepresentation.

An embodiment of the invention provides a detector 600; 800 fordetecting at least one watermark in an input information representation610; 810 provided with the watermark, comprising: a detection parameterdeterminer 620; 850 that is implemented to apply a derivation functionto an initial value, once or several times, to obtain a detectionparameter for detecting the watermark in the input informationrepresentation; and a watermark extractor 630; 840 that is implementedto extract the watermark using the detection parameter 626; 852 from theinput information representation, wherein the detector is implemented toselect how many times the derivation function is to be applied to theinitial value to obtain the embedding parameter; wherein the detectionparameter determiner 620; 850 is implemented to receive an indexparameter and to determine, depending on the index parameter, how manytimes the derivation function is to be applied to the predeterminedinitial value to obtain the detection parameter 626; 852; and whereinthe detector comprises a watermark information detector that isimplemented to detect watermark information contained in the inputinformation representation 610; 810, in order to obtain information on anumber of watermarks contained in the input information representation,and wherein the watermark information detector 830 is implemented toprovide one or several index parameters for the detection parameterdeterminer based on the information on the number of watermarkscontained in the input information representation.

In an embodiment of the detector 600; 800, the derivation function is acryptographic one-way function.

In an embodiment of the detector 600; 800, the detector is implementedto process, as the input information representation, an audio signalrepresenting audio information, an image signal representing imageinformation, a text signal representing a text, or a computer programsignal representing a computer program.

In an embodiment of the detector 600; 800, the detector comprises anelectronic or photonic circuit realizing at least a subfunction of thedetector.

In an embodiment of the detector 600; 800, the watermark extractor isimplemented to add encoded information to the input informationrepresentation 510; 710 as a watermark.

While this invention has been described in terms of several advantageousembodiments, there are alterations, permutations, and equivalents whichfall within the scope of this invention. It should also be noted thatthere are many alternative ways of implementing the methods andcompositions of the present invention. It is therefore intended that thefollowing appended claims be interpreted as including all suchalterations, permutations, and equivalents as fall within the truespirit and scope of the present invention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An embedder for embedding a watermark to beembedded into an input information representation, comprising: anembedding parameter determiner that is implemented to apply a derivationfunction to an initial value, once or several times, to acquire anembedding parameter for embedding the watermark to be embedded into theinput information representation; and a watermark adder that isimplemented to provide the input information representation with thewatermark to be embedded using the embedding parameter, wherein theembedder is implemented to select how many times the derivation functionis to be applied to the initial value to acquire the embeddingparameter; wherein the embedding parameter determiner is implemented toreceive an index parameter and to determine, depending on the indexparameter, how many times the derivation function is to be applied tothe predetermined initial value to acquire the embedding parameter; andwherein the embedder comprises a watermark information detector that isimplemented to detect watermark information already comprised in theinput information representation, to acquire information on a number ofwatermarks already comprised in the input information representation,and wherein the watermark information detector is implemented to provideone or several index parameters for the embedding parameter determiner,based on the information on the number of watermarks already comprisedin the input information representation; wherein the embedder isimplemented using a hardware apparatus, or using a computer, or using acombination of a hardware apparatus and a computer.
 2. The embedderaccording to claim 1, wherein the watermark information detector isimplemented to detect additional information comprised in the inputinformation representation, which carries information on how manywatermarks are comprised in the input information representation, and toacquire information on the number of watermarks already comprised in theinput information representation from the additional information.
 3. Theembedder according to claim 1, wherein the embedding parameterdeterminer is implemented to acquire an embedding code as the embeddingparameter, and wherein the watermark adder is implemented to provide theinput information representation with the watermark to be embedded usingthe embedding code as spread code.
 4. The embedder according to claim 3,wherein the embedding parameter determiner is implemented to acquire anintermediate result value by applying the derivation function to theinitial value once or several times, and to use the intermediate resultvalue as initial value for a spread code determination algorithm, toacquire a spread code by applying the spread code determinationalgorithm to the initial value.
 5. The embedder according to claim 4,wherein the spread code determination algorithm is implemented togenerate a spread code based on the initial value, comprising aplurality of individual values whose correlation characteristics fulfilla predetermined criterion.
 6. The embedder according to claim 1, whereinthe embedder is implemented to embed a plurality of watermarks into theinput information representation, and wherein the embedding parameterdeterminer is implemented to apply the derivation function m times tothe initial value to acquire an embedding parameter for embedding afirst watermark to be embedded into the input informationrepresentation, and to apply the derivation function n times to theinitial value to acquire an embedding parameter for embedding a secondwatermark to be embedded into the input information representation,wherein m≠n.
 7. A detector for detecting at least one watermark in aninput information representation provided with the watermark,comprising: a detection parameter determiner that is implemented toapply a derivation function to an initial value, once or several times,to acquire a detection parameter for detecting the watermark in theinput information representation; and a watermark extractor that isimplemented to extract the watermark using the detection parameter fromthe input information representation, wherein the detector isimplemented to select how many times the derivation function is to beapplied to the initial value to acquire the embedding parameter; whereinthe detection parameter determiner is implemented to receive an indexparameter and to determine, depending on the index parameter, how manytimes the derivation function is to be applied to the predeterminedinitial value to acquire the detection parameter; and wherein thedetector comprises a watermark information detector that is implementedto detect watermark information comprised in the input informationrepresentation, in order to acquire information on a number ofwatermarks comprised in the input information representation, andwherein the watermark information detector is implemented to provide oneor several index parameters for the detection parameter determiner basedon the information on the number of watermarks comprised in the inputinformation representation; wherein the detector is implemented using ahardware apparatus, or using a computer, or using a combination of ahardware apparatus and a computer.
 8. The detector according to claim 7,wherein the watermark information detector is implemented to detectadditional information comprised in the input informationrepresentation, which carries information on how many watermarks arecomprised in the input information representation, and to acquireinformation on the number of watermarks comprised in the inputinformation representation from the additional information.
 9. Thedetector according to claim 7, wherein the detection parameterdeterminer is implemented to provide a detection code as a detectionparameter, and wherein the watermark extractor is implemented to extracta watermark from the input information representation, by using thedetection code as a spread code.
 10. The detector according to claim 9,wherein the detection parameter determiner is implemented to acquire anintermediate result value by applying the derivation function to theinitial value once or several times, and to use the intermediate resultvalue as initial value for a spread code determination algorithm, toacquire the spread code by applying the spread code determinationalgorithm to the initial value.
 11. The detector according to claim 10,wherein the spread code determination algorithm is implemented togenerate a spread code based on the initial value, which comprises aplurality of individual values, whose correlation characteristicsfulfill a predetermined criterion.
 12. The detector according to claim7, wherein the detector is implemented to extract a plurality ofwatermarks from the input information representation, and wherein thedetection parameter determiner is implemented to apply the derivationfunction m times to the initial value to acquire a detection parameterfor extracting a first watermark from the input informationrepresentation, and to apply the derivation function n times to theinitial value to acquire a detection parameter for extracting the secondwatermark from the input information representation, wherein m≠n.
 13. Anembedder for embedding a watermark to be embedded into an inputinformation representation, comprising: an embedding parameterdeterminer that is implemented to apply a derivation function to aninitial value, once or several times, to acquire an embedding parameterfor embedding the watermark to be embedded into the input informationrepresentation; and a watermark adder that is implemented to provide theinput information representation with the watermark to be embedded usingthe embedding parameter, wherein the embedder is implemented to selecthow many times the derivation function is to be applied to the initialvalue to acquire the embedding parameter; wherein the embeddingparameter determiner is implemented to acquire an embedding code as theembedding parameter, and wherein the watermark adder is implemented toprovide the input information representation with the watermark to beembedded using the embedding code as spread code; wherein the embedderis implemented using a hardware apparatus, or using a computer, or usinga combination of a hardware apparatus and a computer.
 14. An embedderfor embedding a watermark to be embedded into an input informationrepresentation, comprising: an embedding parameter determiner that isimplemented to apply a derivation function to an initial value, once orseveral times, to acquire an embedding parameter for embedding thewatermark to be embedded into the input information representation; anda watermark adder that is implemented to provide the input informationrepresentation with the watermark to be embedded using the embeddingparameter, wherein the embedder is implemented to select how many timesthe derivation function is to be applied to the initial value to acquirethe embedding parameter; wherein the embedder is implemented to embed aplurality of watermarks into the input information representation, andwherein the embedding parameter determiner is implemented to apply thederivation function m times to the initial value to acquire an embeddingparameter for embedding a first watermark to be embedded into the inputinformation representation, and to apply the derivation function n timesto the initial value to acquire an embedding parameter for embedding asecond watermark to be embedded into the input informationrepresentation, wherein m≠n; wherein the embedder is implemented using ahardware apparatus, or using a computer, or using a combination of ahardware apparatus and a computer.
 15. A detector for detecting at leastone watermark in an input information representation provided with thewatermark, comprising: a detection parameter determiner that isimplemented to apply a derivation function to an initial value, once orseveral times, to acquire a detection parameter for detecting thewatermark in the input information representation; and a watermarkextractor that is implemented to extract the watermark using thedetection parameter from the input information representation, whereinthe detector is implemented to select how many times the derivationfunction is to be applied to the initial value to acquire the embeddingparameter; wherein the detection parameter determiner is implemented toprovide a detection code as a detection parameter, and wherein thewatermark extractor is implemented to extract a watermark from the inputinformation representation, by using the detection code as a spreadcode; wherein the detector is implemented using a hardware apparatus, orusing a computer, or using a combination of a hardware apparatus and acomputer.
 16. A detector for detecting at least one watermark in aninput information representation provided with the watermark,comprising: a detection parameter determiner that is implemented toapply a derivation function to an initial value, once or several times,to acquire a detection parameter for detecting the watermark in theinput information representation; and a watermark extractor that isimplemented to extract the watermark using the detection parameter fromthe input information representation, wherein the detector isimplemented to select how many times the derivation function is to beapplied to the initial value to acquire the embedding parameter; whereinthe detector is implemented to extract a plurality of watermarks fromthe input information representation, and wherein the detectionparameter determiner is implemented to apply the derivation function mtimes to the initial value to acquire a detection parameter forextracting a first watermark from the input information representation,and to apply the derivation function n times to the initial value toacquire a detection parameter for extracting the second watermark fromthe input information representation, wherein m≠n; wherein the detectoris implemented using a hardware apparatus, or using a computer, or usinga combination of a hardware apparatus and a computer.
 17. A method forembedding a watermark into an input information representation,comprising: selecting how many times a derivation function is to beapplied to an initial value to acquire an embedding parameter; applyingthe derivation function once or several times to the initial value toacquire an embedding parameter for embedding the watermark into theinput information representation; and providing the input informationrepresentation with the watermark using the embedding parameter; whereinthe embedding comprises detecting watermark information alreadycomprised in the input information representation, to acquireinformation on a number of watermarks already comprised in the inputinformation representation from the additional information, and whereinthe embedding comprises providing one or several index parametersdepending on the information on the number of watermarks alreadycomprised in the input information representation; wherein the embeddingcomprises determining, depending on the index parameter, how many timesthe derivation function is to be applied to the initial value to acquirethe embedding parameter; wherein the method is performed using ahardware apparatus, or using a computer, or using a combination of ahardware apparatus and a computer.
 18. A method for embedding awatermark into an input information representation, comprising:selecting how many times a derivation function is to be applied to aninitial value to acquire an embedding parameter; applying the derivationfunction once or several times to the initial value to acquire anembedding parameter for embedding the watermark into the inputinformation representation; and providing the input informationrepresentation with the watermark using the embedding parameter; whereinan embedding code is acquired as the embedding parameter, and whereinthe input information representation is provided with the watermark tobe embedded using the embedding code as spread code; wherein the methodis performed using a hardware apparatus, or using a computer, or using acombination of a hardware apparatus and a computer.
 19. A method forembedding a watermark into an input information representation,comprising: selecting how many times a derivation function is to beapplied to an initial value to acquire an embedding parameter; applyingthe derivation function once or several times to the initial value toacquire an embedding parameter for embedding the watermark into theinput information representation; and providing the input informationrepresentation with the watermark using the embedding parameter whereina plurality of watermarks are embedded into the input informationrepresentation, and wherein the derivation function is applied m timesto the initial value to acquire an embedding parameter for embedding afirst watermark to be embedded into the input informationrepresentation, and wherein the derivation function is applied n timesto the initial value to acquire an embedding parameter for embedding asecond watermark to be embedded into the input informationrepresentation, wherein m≠n; wherein the method is performed using ahardware apparatus, or using a computer, or using a combination of ahardware apparatus and a computer.
 20. A method for detecting at leastone watermark in an input information representation provided with thewatermark, comprising: selecting how many times a derivation function isto be applied to an initial value to acquire a detection parameter;applying the derivation function once or several times to the initialvalue to acquire a detection parameter for detecting the watermark inthe input information representation; and extracting the watermark fromthe input information representation using the detection parameter;wherein it is determined, depending on an index parameter, how manytimes the derivation function is to be applied to the predeterminedinitial value to acquire the detection parameter; and wherein watermarkinformation comprised in the input information representation isdetected to acquire information on a number of watermarks comprised inthe input information representation, and wherein one or several indexparameters are provided based on the information on the number ofwatermarks comprised in the input information representation; whereinthe method is performed using a hardware apparatus, or using a computer,or using a combination of a hardware apparatus and a computer.
 21. Amethod for detecting at least one watermark in an input informationrepresentation provided with the watermark, comprising: selecting howmany times a derivation function is to be applied to an initial value toacquire a detection parameter; applying the derivation function once orseveral times to the initial value to acquire a detection parameter fordetecting the watermark in the input information representation; andextracting the watermark from the input information representation usingthe detection parameter, wherein a detection code is provided asdetection parameter, and wherein a watermark is extracted from the inputinformation representation, by using the detection code as spread code;wherein the method is performed using a hardware apparatus, or using acomputer, or using a combination of a hardware apparatus and a computer.22. A method for detecting at least one watermark in an inputinformation representation provided with the watermark, comprising:selecting how many times a derivation function is to be applied to aninitial value to acquire a detection parameter; applying the derivationfunction once or several times to the initial value to acquire adetection parameter for detecting the watermark in the input informationrepresentation; and extracting the watermark from the input informationrepresentation using the detection parameter; wherein a plurality ofwatermarks are extracted from the input information representation, andwherein the derivation function is applied m times to the initial valueto acquire a detection parameter for extracting a first watermark fromthe input information representation, and wherein the derivationfunction is applied n times to the initial value to acquire a detectionparameter for extracting the second watermark from the input informationrepresentation, wherein m≠n; wherein the method is performed using ahardware apparatus, or using a computer, or using a combination of ahardware apparatus and a computer.
 23. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having program code stored thereon, wherein theprogram code, when executed by a computer, performs a method accordingto one of claims 17 to 22.